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Rahul opposes mining of Niyamgiri hills

Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

Landmark visit: AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi coming out of a park after offering floral tributes at the statue of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Bhubaneswar on Monday. —

BHUBANESWAR: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday said he was against mining of Niyamgiri hills at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district where a private company was setting up an alumina refinery.

“Personally I am against miming at Niyamgiri hills as it would destroy the environment of the area, and affect water sources, livelihood sources and culture,” Mr. Gandhi said at a press conference here.

The Congress leader visited a tribal hamlet on the foothills of Niyamgiri on the first day of his four-day tour of the State on Friday and interacted with members of the Dongaria and Jharania tribes, who have been opposing the proposed extraction of bauxite from Niyamgiri hills for the upcoming alumina refinery.

Mr. Gandhi, however, clarified that he was not against industrialisation. But the genuine concerns of the locals should not be ignored, he said.

About his experience during the tour, Mr. Gandhi said he found that the developments taking place in the State lacked coherence. The fruits of development had not reached many regions and communities, he said.

Expressing the backwardness in terms of education and connectivity, Mr. Gandhi blamed the State Government for its failure to properly implement the Central schemes. “In many places, people told me that they had not got work under the National Rural Guarantee Scheme so far,” Mr. Gandhi said.

Addressing a farmers’ rally at Panikoili in Jajpur district earlier in the day, Mr. Gandhi blamed the State Government for handing over agricultural land to industries.

He also criticised the State Government for diverting water meant for irrigation to industries.

At the venue of the rally, Mr. Gandhi also met the family members of a debt-ridden farmer who had committed suicide on January 30.

Speaking at the rally, Orissa in-charge of the Congress and Union Minister Ajay Maken lambasted the Naveen Patnaik Government for ignoring interests of the farmers.

“While the Congress Government at the Centre had given a loan waiver of Rs. 5,000 crore to farmers of Orissa, Naveen Patnaik Government had helped a private company in availing a loan waiver of over Rs. 2,000 crore,” Mr. Maken observed.

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