In Odisha’s Tijmali, also known as Sijimali in the Kond Adivasi language, Adivasi and Dalit communities are resisting a massive bauxite mining project that threatens their mountains, forests, streams, farms and sacred lands. According to The Wire, Vedanta acquired mining rights in February 2023 over a bauxite deposit estimated at 311 million tonnes, planned to be mined at 9 million tonnes per year for 30 years.
For the people of Tijmali, this is not just a mining project. The mountain is a living source of water, food, fertility, culture and spirituality. Bauxite-capped mountains hold monsoon rainwater and release it through perennial streams. Once mined, these mountains can lose their water-holding capacity, destroying agriculture, forests and village life.
The resistance has been met with repression. The report says that on March 11, 2026, 21 people were forcibly arrested from Talampadar, including a pregnant woman and elderly women. On April 6, 2026, more than 100 policemen and masked men allegedly attacked Kantamal village around 3 am, firing tear gas that set thatched homes on fire. More than 70 people were reportedly injured.
Since May 2025, villagers have maintained a protest camp to stop construction of a 3 km access road to Tijmali. Their struggle is not against development. It is against corporate extraction that sacrifices Adivasi lives, forests, water systems and future generations for aluminium profits.
Tijmali is not merely a hill. It is a homeland, a water source and a living ecological system. Defending it is defending the future of Odisha.
