Protest in Orissa over Gandhamardhan mining

Sambalpur, Oct 12 (UNI) An all-party meeting to protest mining in the historic Gandhamardan Hill of Orissa said it would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and state Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik to apprise them of their opposition to NALCO's mining proposal in the area.

The meeting, held on Tuesday, said the people were emotionally attached with the Gandhamardan hill, the Nrushinghanath and Harishankar temples located on it.

In the 1980s, the people of Western Orissa resorted to a violent agitation that forced BALCO to abandon the idea of mining from the Gandhamardhan hill for its plant in Madhya Pradesh.

Sambalpur Member of Parliament Prasanna Acharya of the ruling Biju Janata Dal(BJD) recently appealed to the people to protest the proposal tooth and nail.

The BJD MP warned both state government and the Centre to refrain from such a move that would threaten the very ecology and the bio-diversity of the historic hill, considered as the treasure house of rare herbal plants and a place with scenic beauty with two perennial streams and temples at both ends.

Political activists from BJD, Congress, BJP said they will oppose any attempt of public sector NALCO to go for mining operations in the Hills.

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