Magazine article New Internationalist
Under-Mining Vedanta
Article excerpt
GLOBAL PROTEST
Protesters held angry demonstrations against Anglo-Indian mining giant Vedanta in seven locations across Africa and India on the same day in August. these far-flung and isolated communities united to accuse Vedanta of looting, polluting and devastating their homelands.
the company, which is 70-per-cent owned by London-based billionaire Anil Agarwal, saw its London AGM also hit with protests that day. campaigners staged a theatrical boxing match outside, while dissident shareholders posed challenging questions inside.
Vedanta has been consistently opposed by communities where it operates. In 2013 the company lost $10 billion when indigenous people and local farmers won a 10-year struggle to halt mining on the Niyamgiri mountain in India.
Around the world, Vedanta has been indicted for multiple crimes. In Korba, in the Indian state of chhattisgarh, the company was found guilty of causing the deaths of up to 100 workers when a chimney collapsed in 2009. Vedanta's lawyers suppressed the results of the judicial investigation last year, but it was leaked to activists.
In Goa, Vedanta mined iron ore without permission for five years. ramesh Gauns, an adviser to people affected by the mine, claims the company now owes the state $2. …