Kondha

The Dongria Kondh are one belonging to the Kondh indigenous ethnic group in the Indian state of Odisha with more than 8,000 members. The to the Adivasis scoring Dongria Kondh live in villages around the Niyamgiri mountains and call themselves Jharnia, meaning " guardian of the rivers " means because they protect their sacred mountain Niyam Dongar and the flows between its dense forests. Niyam Dongar is the seat of Niyam Raja, the God of the Dongria Kondh. the mountain is referred to as the " mountain of the law " and is the livelihood of the people.

Problems

On the mountain of the Dongria Kondh there are large deposits of aluminum ore bauxite. The British mining company Vedanta Resources plans to build a mine there to relieve the valuable raw material. Despite international protests and lack of approval for the mine, Vedanta has already built a bauxite refinery near the mountain, which, however, may not be extended. To use this profitably, however, the bauxite of the mountain is necessary. The construction of the refinery large areas of the ancestral forest of the Dongria Kondh and adjacent groups have already been cleared, making the village Kinari was completely destroyed. The people have been resettled in camps and are now dependent on social benefits. The waste product of the refinery, a fine red dust, endangers the health of people and animals on the ground and threatened plant growth in the region.

Recently, the company has had to setbacks for the planned construction. Although the project initially received approval and was approved by the Government of India, India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh moved shortly before his departure a license back. The mine was stopped in August 2010, after independent experts had called for, that the mine the Dongria Kondh indigenous in the region " destroy " would. The Dongria Kondh fight bitterly with international organizations such as the human rights organization Survival International against the project. Without their mountain, they explain, they would not survive and only if the refinery no longer stand, she could breathe again.

In April 2013, the Supreme Court of India has ruled that the residents in this case should have the last word. All twelve local councils in the area reportedly voted against it. The Environment Ministry has finally stopped the plans for bauxite production in January 2014.