Mining push meets tribal resistance

Sporting greying hair and a thin moustache, Hamdu Majhi, an unassuming member of the Kondh tribe in his 60s, is visibly agitated. His voice trembles, but his words are firm. He asserts that no matter what modern machinery is deployed, no road will be allowed to snake its way to the summit of the imposing 1,223-metre Sijimali hill, straddling Rayagada and Kalahandi districts of south Odisha.

Standing at Bichhapinda along State Highway 44, Hamdu, a resident of Uparamapadar village at the foothills of the Sijimali, speaks not just for himself but also for an entire community bracing for confrontation. He is far from alone. Under a punishing summer sun, the stillness of the forest is shattered whenever a vehicle approaches. Elderly women, lactating mothers holding infants, children, and men carrying axes rush out almost in unison upon seeing vehicles halt on the highway, the very point from which a 2.98-km access road is proposed to begin its ascent to the hill they call home and a lifeline.