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After the Supreme Court gave permission to Vedanta mining company to begin extracting bauxite from the Niyamgiri mountain in Orissa State, the 8,000-plus Dongria Kondh tribe has been desperately fighting against it. The mountain isn’t just sacred for the tribe; they also live off the jungle cover, and activists say the mining will destroy the area’s ecosystem along with the tribe. But the situation looks bleak, as Vedanta has already dug a number of test pits, started to cut down trees for roads, and built a large conveyer belt to begin mining. Ash from a Vedanta refinery has caused more than a dozen tribe members to get tuberculosis. Now, after months of protests and meetings with government officials and no progress, the tribe is trying a new tack.
(This story appears in the 05 March, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)