INDIACSR News Network
BHAWANIPATNA: The Vedanta alumina refinery at Lanjigarh which has given livelihood to more than 15,000 people in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts of Odisha should resume operations, said a delegation of locals who came to meet the Collector and District Magistrate, Kalahandi. The delegation came with ten thousand signatures of their fellow brothers & sisters in the locality and handed over a memorandum to the Collector Gobinda Chandra Sathy today. The localities are also planning to meet the Chief Minister of Odisha soon.
“We handed over a memorandum to our district collector where nearly ten thousand people from our region have signed. We will also go to the Chief Minister of Odisha with these ten thousand signatures, even more, and will request him to take steps to resume the alumina refinery of Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL),” said Sridhara Pesnia –President, Lanjigarh Anchalika Vikash Parishad.
“After the closure of the plant, people have lost their livelihood and they want the refinery to start immediately. More than fifteen thousand people depend on the plant for their livelihood directly or indirectly and if the plant will remain shut for longer period, we will come to the streets,” said, Subas Agrawal, another localite of Lanjigarh.
A similar delegation also met the Collector and District Magistrate, Rayagada – Sashi Bhusan Padhi today. They reiterated the same and made a request to take immediate steps for resuming the refinery at Lanjigarh. They said that they will also meet the Chief Minister to show their plight.
The Vedanta alumina refinery was shut down from December 5, 2012 due to acute shortage of bauxite, the raw material to run the pant.
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