One of the five member delegation, Damki Majhi says, "If the mining starts we cannot stay there anymore; our streams and forests and crops will be destroyed and we are dependent on Niyamgiri for water." He adds that "We cannot eat money, and we know it won't last long."

The five member delegation was joined by environment and human rights activists, professionals from varied backgrounds, students, and others at Delhi Haat for the candle light vigil.

A Delhi-based theatre group, Steps for Change, highlighted the issue and challenges faced by the Kondh people through powerful and insightful street plays.

Another representative of the Kondh people was in the UK to appeal to the shareholders at the AGM of Vedanta plc to stop the mining plan.

Background:
Vedanta Resources plc, a British-listed mining company, is about to start building an open-pit mine for bauxite (a raw form of aluminum) in the pristine Niyamgiri Hills in the state of Orissa in India.

The Niyamgiri hills are the ancestral home of thousands of tribal people whose distinctive way of life and culture makes them one of India's most vulnerable indigenous groups.

According to a report by Centrally Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court, the mine will lead to massive deforestation, threaten key water sources and destroy local ecosystems, home to endangered animals such as tigers, leopards and elephants.

In the past appeal to shareholders of the company an international scrutiny of Vedanta's activities in Lanjigarh and elsewhere led the Norway Pension Fund to withdraw its investment of $15.6m from the company.

The Ethics Committee had stated: "Allegations levelled at Vedanta regarding environmental damage and complicity in human rights violations, including abuse and forced eviction of tribal people, are well founded."

ENDS

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