Clashes between tribal villagers and police near Kashipur in Odisha’s Rayagada district left at least 40 police personnel and 25 villagers injured on Tuesday (April 7).At the centre of the violence was the construction of a 3 km-long approach road leading to the Sijimali bauxite mine, officials said. The tribals’ opposition to the road reflects their long-simmering discontent against the bauxite project, ever since the mine was handed over to Vedanta Limited in 2023 through an auction.The protestors alleged that the police had raided the village at 3 am on Tuesday to detain those who had been opposing the road construction. The villagers alleged that the electricity supply to the village was cut off before the raid and that the police broke down doors to enter their houses.The police claimed that they went to the village to arrest one person against whom a non-bailable warrant had been issued. Rayagada SP Swathy S Kumar said nearly 250 villagers attacked the police with stones, swords, axes and other sharp weapons. Police subsequently lathi-charged and fired teargas, and deployed six platoons.The district administration earlier issued a prohibitory order for the area on April 3, but the villagers continued their protests. They alleged that they were not consulted by the administration before beginning the road construction, and the administration allegedly used force against the tribals to suppress them.Similar allegations have been levelled at the process for the approval of the project. The Rayagada district administration has stated that Gram Sabhas (meetings comprising all adults in a village) were held in all eight affected villages in the district on December 8, 2023, as per the provisions of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), and the villagers gave their “unanimous approval” and “consent” for the mining project. Vedanta has also submitted a proposal to the Centre, seeking the necessary clearances for bauxite mining.Story continues below this adThe villagers alleged that the Gram Sabhas were conducted fraudulently and their signatures were also forged. They have protested against the project over concerns that it would endanger their livelihoods. Vedanta, meanwhile, claims to have received Stage-1 forest clearance from the Centre and is targeting to commission the mining project next year. Stage-1 clearance is a conditional approval, where the company in question has to comply with certain conditions, like compensatory afforestation, deposit of funds for diversion of forest land, etc.Sijimali is part of the Eastern Ghats hill ranges and is interspersed with valleys. The bauxite reserve, covering an area of 1,500 hectares, is spread over the Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. With an estimated reserve of 311 million tonnes of high-grade bauxite, Sijimali is located close to Vedanta’s alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district, capable of producing 5 million tonnes per annum.Alumina is refined from bauxite ore and used to produce aluminium, which is instrumental in making everything from soda cans to aircraft. Aluminium’s strength, lightness and conductivity allow for a multiplicity of uses. It is also the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust, and the third most common element, after Oxygen and Silicon.Explained | Amid gas shortage, how greater reliance on coal-based power during summer spurs concerns of solar curtailmentAccording to the Indian Bureau of Mines’ 2022 Yearbook, Odisha alone accounts for 41% of India’s bauxite resources, and was the leading producer in 2021-22, comprising about 73% of the total production. Beyond bauxite, Odisha has some of the richest mineral deposits in the country, including high-grade iron ore, coal, nickel, gemstones and graphite, together accounting for nearly 17% of India’s total mineral reserves.Past protests against bauxite miningStory continues below this adVedanta had earlier faced rejection in its bid to mine bauxite from the nearby Niyamgiri hill, inhabited by the Dongria Kondhs, a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) who worship Niyam Raja as the supreme God of the Niyamgiri forest. Vedanta and the state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation had formed a joint venture to mine the bauxite reserve to supply ore to the Lanjigarh alumina refinery.The project ran into rough weather after the Centre refused Stage-II forest clearance in 2010 for diversion of 660 hectares of forest land for bauxite mining in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts. This was based on the adverse views of the forest advisory committee on tribal rights and the impact on the region’s ecology and biodiversity.The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in its judgment on April 18, 2013, that the mining project required clearance from the Gram Sabhas. Later that year, all 12 Gram Sabhas rejected the mining plan in the eco-sensitive Niyamgiri hills, dealing a blow to Vedanta.