Vedanta alumina refinery employees at Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s house in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 29: Local residents and employees of Vedanta’s alumina refinery in Odisha’s Kalahandi district today sought the intervention of chief minister Naveen Patnaik to ensure the supply of bauxite to keep the plant running.

Vedanta Alumina, which is facing a raw material crisis, has told the state government that it would be forced to shut down its 1-million-tonne refinery at Lanjigarh from December if the plant did not get bauxite.

The Union environment and forests ministry had raised objections to the Odisha government’s recommendation to allot Niyamgiri mines in Kalahandi to the plant. The ministry had also taken exception to its expansion plans. The company has been urging the state government to provide alternate sites for mining bauxite.

According to the agreement between Vedanta and the Odisha Mining Corporation, the two were to explore mines allotted to the corporation. This agreement had invited severe criticism from various quarters. Some people, including Union chemicals and fertiliser minister Srikant Jena, had alleged that the corporation would be getting peanuts from the deal.

“If the plant closes down, the livelihood of more than 20,000 people would be affected,” said Srikant Bohidar, who was a part of the delegation that met the chief minister today.

Vedanta employees also pleaded with the chief minister to intervene. “If the plant closes down, nearly 3,000 direct employees will be jobless,” said Paramita Behera, an employee.

Naveen promised the delegation he would “look into the matter and take appropriate action in consultation with senior officials”.

The company, which received a major jolt when the Centre rejected the proposal for mining bauxite from the Niyamgiri hills in 2010, has been getting bauxite from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Gujarat. But these sources have dried up now, said the company’s chief operating officer Mukesh Kumar.

On the other hand, applications submitted by the company for alternative mines in Odisha are pending with the state government. “We have submitted 26 applications, but we have not been offered any alternatives yet,” said Kumar.

People of the Dongria Kondh tribe have been opposing the mining of bauxite in Niyamgiri hills, which they consider sacred. Their struggle against the mining project got a boost when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi supported their cause.

Rahul had addressed a “Save Niyamgiri” rally in 2010 and called himself a “sipahi” of tribals at “Delhi durbar”.

The Centre had refused permission for mining bauxite in the Niyamgiri hills in August, 2010. The decision has been challenged in the Supreme Court by the Odisha Mining Corporation.