Balangir, June 19: Western Odisha Adivasi Kalyan Mahasangh, a federation of tribal bodies, has criticised the state government for showing “undue favour” to Vedanta Alumina Limited.

Activists of the federation said the Supreme Court had given a verdict in regard to the 661 hectares of forestland that the state government was planning to lease out to Vedanta for mining. The tribal people of the area will decide at a gram sabha whether they wanted the company to take up mining in the area. The court asked the state government to hold gram sabhas in the villages to decide the fate of the company in Lanjigarh.

The activists, however, alleged that the state government was trying to come to the rescue of Vedanta by identifying only 12 villages for the gram sabha. Secretary general of the federation Niranjan Bishi said 162 villages of Kalahandi and Rayagada districts would be affected by the mining in Niyamgiri hills.