The first-ever environmental referendum in India saw one of its oldest indigenous groups, the Dongria Kondh, win a 10-year struggle against transnational mining company Vedanta.
When polled last July, the 8,000-strong community unanimously rejected Vedanta’s plan to extract bauxite (aluminium ore) from their mountain habitat in the Niyamgiri hills, on the grounds that it would infringe on their religious, cultural and social rights.
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