Source: news.bbc.co.uk
INDIA, July 26, 2009: Environmental campaigner Bianca Jagger has called on the Church of England to rethink its investment policy. At issue is the Church’s $4.1m investment in a company which intends to mine a mountain in India that is considered sacred by the tribe that lives there. “I appeal to the Church of England to realize that this mining project not only endangers the culture and beliefs of the tribal community but is also extremely damaging to the environment,” she said. “It will have a severe impact on wildlife in the area – including leopards and tigers – in addition to destroying rivers, streams and plant life.”
A spokesman for the church said it was reviewing its involvement with the company, Vedanta, which is about to start mining bauxite in the Niyamgiri hills. The company and its Indian partner have been accused of forcing people to move from the land. Many tribal peoples in the area are animists and regard the Niyamgiri hills as sacred.
Vedanta insists the mining project in the remote and inaccessible Niyamgiri hills in the eastern Indian state of Orissa is ethically and environmentally sound.