Vedanta: Amnesty Criticism Of Orissa Project Based On Outdated Document
- NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN) defended Tuesday its industrial and mining practices in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, rebutting a critical report by human rights group Amnesty International which accused the company of polluting areas around its Lanjigarh refinery and displacing tribes in the Dongria Kondh region. "The majority of the Amnesty International report is based on an outdated document," the company said, adding that Amnesty International "was fully briefed by Vedanta on the nationally scrutinized processes and environmental safeguards followed over many years by the company prior to commencing the project and during its development." Amnesty said the Lanjigarh alumina refinery is causing air and water pollution that threatens the health of local people, and the mine "threatens the very existence of the Dongria Kondh, an 8,000-strong protected indigenous community that has lived on the Niyamgiri hills for centuries." -By Prasenjit Bhattacharya, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-11-4356-3358; prasenjit.bhattacharya@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=0qExcjcOGE7u%2F47CMJn1Qg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
