Sanjit Das Photography

Women walk past a field against the background of Vedanta plant in Ijirupa village in Lanjigarh, Orissa, India. The huge bauxite deposits in Niyamgiri have led the Vedanta group to set up an alumina refinery at Lanjigarh, making the tribals apprehensive about their habitat. The UK based Vedanta Resources has come under immense pressure from human rights and environmental groups to abandon its plans to mine at the Niyamgiri mountains in Orissa for bauxite (to extract aluminium). The dig site is considered a sacred ground by the local Dongria Kondh community and has attracted support from conservationists from across the world.