The Koraput District Natural Resources Protection Conference which took place on World Environment Day on June 5, 2026 at Koraput, called for banning ‘New Bauxite Mining’ Across the Entire State, Including Mali Parbat.
The conference was organized by the ‘Koraputiya Jana Suraksha Sangha’ and the ‘Center for Climatic Justice’. The conference condemned the actions of past and present governments who did indiscriminately lease out mines to corporate bodies while devastating the lives and livelihoods of tribal communities and all indigenous forest dwellers. All their acts were and are unconstitutional and highly condemnable as they deplete the state’s resources.
Furthermore, a unanimous resolution was passed at the conference demanding a ban on new bauxite mining operations across the entire state, including Mali Parbat in Koraput.
The conference witnessed the participation of leaders and representatives from various people’s movements across Odisha, including the Mali Parbat Suraksha Samiti, Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, Maa Mati Mali Suraksha Manch, Serubandha Suraksha Samiti, Nageswari Mali Dangar Maha Gram Sabha, and Gandhamardan Suraksha Samiti.
The prominent participants included Sri Prafulla Samantara- a prominent environmentalist and the founder of the Center for Climate Justice, who stated that 60 percent of the country’s total bauxite reserves are located in just five districts of Odisha: Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Balangir, and Bargarh. Currently, mining is underway in Panchpatmali, Kodingamali, and Baphlimali, which is destroying the environment and water resources while continuously increasing pollution.
> “Until now, the damage caused to land, water, and forests by this mining has not been redressed; neither have the affected and displaced people received justice, nor has the degraded environment been restored. The government has not even thought about addressing these issues,” Samantara added.
The water-retaining capacity of bauxite is unparalleled. From Gandhamardan to Niyamgiri, Karlapat, Khandualmali, Manjhingmali, Sijimali, Kutrumali, Sasubohumali, Basangamali, Tikirimali, Kodingamali, Maliparbat, Nageswari Hill, Karnakonda, Panchpatmali, Serubandha, and Deomali—these ranges serve as the perennial water reservoirs of Odisha. Nature did not create these bauxite mountains as consumer goods or for manufacturing bombs for war and destruction. Their primary purpose is to provide water, the fundamental necessity of life, and to sustain the surrounding forests for oxygen.
The conference alleged that since 2021, one mountain after another is being excavated and handed over to corporate companies by violating all laws, constitutional directives, and rights. According to the *Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, tribal communities are the owners of natural resources. Article 39(c) of the Directive Principles of State Policy does also suggest that the state’s resources must not be concentrated in the hands of any individual, institution, or company.
However, violating these principles completely, the government is taking illegal and unconstitutional steps to forcefully carry out mining operations without the consent of the local tribals and traditional forest dwellers.
To oppose these anti-people measures and the policy of “destruction in the name of development,” Mr. Prafulla Samantara moved a resolution to ban new bauxite mining in the state. After Dasi Nandibali, the President of the Koraputya Jana Suraksha Sangha, seconded the proposal, it was passed unanimously.
Through this conference, various speakers demanded:
1. *Withdrawal of Leases:* All bauxite mining leases granted from 2021 to date, including the one for Mali Parbat in Koraput, must be withdrawn.
2. *End of Repression :* The Repression of activists and leaders of people’s movements fighting to protect natural resources must stop immediately.
3. *Withdrawal of False Cases:* All false cases registered by the police against these activists must be scrapped.
The meeting was coordinated by Niranjan Khilo, leader of the Mali Parbat Suraksha Samiti. Prominent leaders of various state people’s movements participated in the discussion, including:
* *Lingaraj, Convener of the West Odisha Farmers’ Organization Coordination Committee (*Paschima Odisha Krushak Sangathan Samanwaya)
* *Narendra Mohanty*, State Convener of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
* *Bhalachandra Sarangi* of AIKMS
* *Advocate Gupteswar Panigrahi*
* Representatives from various movements, including Narangidei Majhi, Laxmi Sisa, Bijay Khil, Ajay Muduli, Alma Phul, Subas Dharua, Rajkumar Seth, Trilochan Punji, Nachika Linga, Tikai Gemel, Madhusudan Dadia, Trilochan Muduli, Dhanapati Tiding, and Somanath Guntha.
The leaders declared that the resistance movement against mining would be further intensified. Attending the conference as a guest, veteran journalist Satyaprakash Nayak expressed his views, stating that there is an urgent need to strengthen people’s movements to stop the plunder of the state’s natural resources.
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A report by Sri.Narendra Mohanty
Phone: 9437426647 // 7008483622
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