Amnesty sees red over Vedanta green report

Amnesty International, the UK-based independent human rights watchdog, has flayed Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta Resources for publishing a “meaningless and hollow” sustainability report — ‘The Lanjigarh development story: Vedanta’s perspective’ — in the run-up to the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in London on Tuesday.

Amnesty published comments on its website and a counter report — ‘Vedanta’s Perspective Uncovered’ — on Tuesday.

“Amnesty International has accused the UK-registered mining company Vedanta of attempting to ‘gloss over’ criticisms of its poor human rights record in Odisha by publishing a ‘meaningless and hollow’ report that puts forward the company’s own account of its operations there,” said Amnesty’s website.

With the company staging its AGM in London, Amnesty believes the ‘Vedanta’s Perspective’ report is an attempt to calm investor fears over its controversial operations in India as it seeks to expand them.

According to the London Stock Exchange data, the company’s shares continued to tumble in the last seven working days and had fallen by almost 8% as investors and shareholders anticipated a heated questionnaire round during the AGM on the company’s practices, policies and development strategy.

However, chairman Agarwal tried to allay fears regarding Vedanta’s green objectives at the AGM.

Amnesty said it had visited the Lanjigarh area in Odisha, where Vedanta currently runs a million tonne alumina refinery, and the Niyamgiri Hills four times in the last two years to discuss with the local Dongria Kondh community, the affected lot.

Vedanta, through subsidiary Vedanta Aluminium, now plans to increase its capacity to 6 million tonne and source bauxite for the plant from the adjoining Niyamgiri Hills. Currently, the expansion and mining in the hills are halted by the Supreme Court and is under litigation.

Amnesty, in its report, said the company has not mentioned how the local authorities have failed to offer the Dongria Kondh community their right “to address the negative impacts of the mine, and the protection of their interests through consultation and collaboration.”

It alleged that Vedanta’s report tactfully escaped mentioning the Indian laws under which prior consultation with the elected village council bodies of the Dongria Kondh community is mandatory before any plans for development are implemented.

Amnesty claimed that the company, along with Orissa Mining Corporation and the local authorities, has increasingly failed to consult and discuss issues that could affect the livelihood of local people.