On March 25, 2026, activist leaders Lingaraj Azad and Suresh Sangram were arrested in Odisha’s Kalahandi district. They have both been closely involved in defending the rights of rural and Adivasi communities over jal, jangal, and zameen (water, forests, and land), and in opposing the mining corporate Vedanta Ltd. This bauxite-rich part of Odisha is coveted by mining corporations, and the district has witnessed previous tribal struggles to retain their land. Corporate interest has now shifted to Sijimali.
Mining project and ecological concerns
In 2023, the Vedanta group secured a letter of intent to start mining at the Sijimali bauxite block, spread over an area of around 1,549 hectares, with an estimated bauxite reserve of 311 million tonnes.
Sijimali refers to a range of hills famous for its pristine forest and rich biodiversity, and carries sacred significance for the indigenous communities living here, as their presiding deity Teej Raja resides in a cave atop the Sijimali hill.
Use of stringent laws questioned
Azad and Sangram, like many activists before them, have been charged under the draconian UAPA, along with provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to criminal conspiracy, sedition, and support to unlawful organisations.
Aflatoon, heading the Samajwadi Jan Parishad, of which Lingaraj Azad has been president, questions how anti-terror laws are being used to punish democratic dissent. “The mining area is spread over more than 18 tribal-dominated villages which fall under Schedule Five of the Constitution, that allows Adivasis the right to self-governance and cultural autonomy. Under PESA and FRA, no private mining can take place without the prior consent of the Gram Sabhas. But no prior consent was sought from the local villagers before leasing out the hills,” Aflatoon said.
Allegations of intimidation and surveillance
These arrests are part of intimidatory tactics being practised by the Odisha Police and the CRPF, who are conducting round-the-clock patrolling of the villages, to the extent that even women and children are not being permitted to leave their homes. Drones are being used for additional surveillance, and delayed harvesting has destroyed the standing crops.
Activist Saranaya Nayak, part of the regional feminist network Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, who has been working in Sijimali for several years, said, “Five villages remain the most targeted because they are the centre of dissent. The situation is so bad in Sajabari and Kantamal villages (comprising largely Adivasi and Dalit families) that women are not being allowed to step out and collect drinking water from the springs that flow in abundance in these hills.”
“People are not able to go out and work, and families are reduced to surviving on one meal a day. Even pregnant women are not being allowed to go for check-ups to the primary health centres,” said Saranaya.
Claims of forced consent and arrests
Villagers here cite the example of tribal woman leader Naring Dei Majhi, in her fifties, who had taken her pregnant daughter-in-law for delivery to a hospital in Rayagada. She was arrested on the premises of the hospital and is the first tribal woman to have been imprisoned, having remained in lock-up for over seven months.
Such intimidatory tactics have been going on for the last three years. In a desperate attempt to manufacture the consent of these villagers, the district administration has held ‘fake’ Gram Sabha meetings. Subsequent RTI replies show that the signatures in these consent documents have largely been fake.
Anti-mining activist Laxman Majhi, who has also spent several months in jail and was released recently, said, “We are being called Maoists, but ours is a completely non-violent protest. The police do not hesitate to pick up young children and beat them up. No wonder most families living here prefer to put their children in hostels. Sometimes I wonder if I am living in a free country. India has become a large prison,” Laxman lamented.
Environmental and livelihood concerns
Despite these odds, the villagers here had set up a tent at the top of the Sijimali hill in 2023 to prevent company officials from secretly entering the hills and starting project preparations.
There are several factors that have ignited the people to oppose these mines. Not only will mining result in the chopping of pristine forests and the destruction of the ecology, but it will also destroy their water cycles. Laxman pointed out, “Bauxite is crucial to maintaining our environmental cycle. Bauxite helps hold rainwater, which is released through springs right around the year, especially in the summer months.”
The 8,000-strong Dongria Kondh tribe living 40 km away from Sijimali is also feeling threatened by these developments. For the Dongria Kondh tribals, the Niyamgiri Hill is the seat of their god, Niyam Raja. Dongria Kondh means ‘protector of the streams’, and this is what they have cared for and nurtured over the past 2,000 years.
Lessons from Niyamgiri and Hasdeo
The Niyamgiri Hills also hold large deposits of bauxite and have been at the centre of a storm for several years. The Dongria Kondhs fought for their rights for twelve years, until finally the Supreme Court ordered a referendum where the tribals unanimously voted against bauxite mining.
Activist Prafulla Samantara, who was at the forefront of protecting the Niyamgiri Hills and was awarded the 2017 Goldman Environmental Award for his efforts, said, “Corporate terrorism has been unleashed in this region. These hills are rich in bauxite, coal, limestone, and other minerals, and the state government is handing over these rare forests to corporate houses. Within a span of 25 years, everything — our rivers, our ecology, our biodiversity — will be destroyed. Sadly, the Opposition is not speaking up against what is going on.”
The Adivasis of Sijimali and Niyamgiri are aware of the hardships their brethren are facing as they witness the destruction of India’s last contiguous forest, Hasdeo Arand in Chhattisgarh. Large numbers of tribals living there complain that they are no longer permitted to collect forest produce or access their sacred sites.
Debate over mining policy and sustainability
Of course, mining is important, but there is no policing mechanism in India that determines how much should be mined and how much should not be. Caveats against excessive mining by different government organisations have been ignored. The Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited, involved in planning coal exploration, had cautioned the MoEF that coal deposits in several forests can provide optimum coal only for five to six years. They questioned why key forests are being destroyed for such short-lived gains.
Debadityo Sinha, who leads the climate and ecosystems practice at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, has emphasised the irreversible damage being done to these forests by mining, thermal power plants, and the damming of rivers.
Socialist leader Kishen Pattanayak once wrote that “Mining is the crudest technology of contemporary civilisation... Man must invent a technology and method that can be used by the owning communities to exploit the mines in a sustainable manner.”
Political assurances and future concerns
Prior to general elections, Modi had assured Adivasis that their jal, jangal, jameen would not be threatened. Following the formation of BJP state governments in both Odisha and Chhattisgarh, where the chief ministers are tribals, a carte blanche seems to have been given to corporate houses to cut down forests. The future is no one’s concern.
Rashme Sehgal is an author and an independent journalist.
