Baffled Vedanta accuses panel member of bias; charge denied

NEW DELHI: Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta group has accused of "bias" Usha Ramanathan, a member of an expert group that alleged violation of forest and 

tribal norms by the business house's Rs 50,000 crore mining project in Orissa.

Ramanathan, an independent member of the committee that submitted its report to the government last week, vehemently denied the charges saying even the environment ministry had found no substance in the allegations levelled by Vedanta.

"In view of Usha Ramanathan's past association with foreign NGO Amnesty International and her going out of terms of reference given to her by the Ministry Of Environment and Forest (MoEF), her report is biased and should not be considered," Vedanta Resources' group firm Vedanta Aluminium COO Mukesh Kumar said.

Following the report, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh spoke to reporters about green and tribal norm violations in the proposed project at Orissa's Niyamgiri hills.

The area is part of the aluminium project of the group, which is at the centre of criticism by rights activists prompting investors like Church of England and JRC Trust to sell their stake in the London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc.

Vedanta also accused Ramanathan of having links with Amnesty. It had earlier asked the Centre to withdraw her from the panel, alleging that she is bound to be biased.

"I am not a member of Amnesty. I do not agree with many things they say. I work with many organisations and was part of an Amnesty panel in the capacity of an honorary expert. But that panel was closed in 2007," Ramanathan said.

In two separate letters written by Sterlite Industries Aluminium Operations CEO Pramod Suri to Union Environment Ministry on January 14 and January 27, 2010, the mining entity has doubted credentials of Ramanathan, saying she is an "interested party."

The company had earlier said that the Orissa government had written two separate letters to the Centre to the effect that Vedanta was well within the law.

Subsequently, MoEF had also asked Ramanathan to elaborate on her links with Amnesty International, the international rights group which is opposed to Vedanta's mining and aluminium project in Orissa.

"I replied to the ministry on January 19 regarding such accusations. They also found that I was not part of any such organisation," she said.

Sterlite Industries is Vedanta Resources' flagship firm in India and mining from Niyamgiri hills will feed its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh. Niyamgiri is inhabited by the endangered Dongria Kond tribe.

Usha Ramanathan, had in her report, among other things talked about, "palpable unrest among the Dongria Konds."

The report has found fault with the way the public hearing was conducted for the expansion of the refinery.

Also, "the locals of the two villages situated close to the plant (refinery) have approached the state rights commission complaining of increased morbidity and mortality, cattle death, irritation in the eyes and noise population," the report adds.