At Lakhpadar village under Kalyansinghpur of Rayagada district located on the slopes of Niyamgiri, the 97 Dongaria Kondhs present in the pallisabha unanimously rejected the proposal to mine the hills for bauxite. In the Lakhpadar pallisabha, tribals from two hamlets also participated. It was the 10th pallisabha to reject Vedanta's bauxite mining proposal.
"Our God lives in open space. You keep your God locked with a key. We won't leave Niyamgiri. If the government, and politicians ask for it we will fight. Why do police destroy our fields and crops in the name of combing Maoists. Withdraw them immediately," said Lado Sikaka, a prominent anti-Vedanta Dongaria tribal from Pottangapadar hamlet.
Kumuti Majhi, convenor of Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, said the pallisabha in the remaining two villages are also going to see the same anti-Vedanta sentiment. On August 13 and 19, two more pallisabhas would be held at Khambesi and Jarpa villages of Rayagada.
Rayagada district judge SC Mishra supervised the proceedings as CRPF and state police forces kept watch on the proceedings from nearby hills.