In the tribal-dominated Koraput district of eastern India's Odisha state, local residents have expressed profound shock after discovering their signatures and thumb impressions on documents declaring consent for a bauxite mining project. The $24 million venture is being advanced by Kalinga Alumina Limited, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Limited, a powerful conglomerate owned by billionaire Gautam Adani.

Indian constitutional provisions mandate that village council resolutions must achieve a 50 percent quorum of adult residents to approve the diversion of traditional forest lands. However, villagers from Balda and Bannur insist that mandatory meetings lacked the required attendance, pointing out that hundreds were actively protesting the project outside the council offices. Investigation into the official consent lists revealed widespread alleged forgeries, including names and thumbprints of deceased individuals, paralyzed residents, and migrant workers who were hundreds of kilometers away at the time.

Furthermore, evidence emerged suggesting that local intermediaries gathered signatures under false pretenses—such as routine land documentation updates—only for those papers to be repurposed as mining approval documents. Representatives of the Adani group, alongside local district magistrates and police superintendents, reportedly failed to respond to media inquiries regarding the mounting allegations of fraud and procedural violations.

Legal experts and researchers emphasize that circumventing statutory community consent mechanisms reflects a deeply troubling administrative trend across various development jurisdictions in the country. Despite petitions filed by affected communities and sworn affidavits detailing the rampant irregularities, state authorities swiftly issued the final clearances and transferred the contested forest land, leaving determined villagers vowing to physically block the impending industrial construction.

Source: www.aljazeera.com