Abstract
This chapter documents the people’s movement that rose up against BALCO’s construction work for bauxite mining led by the Gandhamardan Surakshya Yuva Parishad among other organizations. The Gandhamardan mountain stands at the juncture of three districts: Bargarh, Balangir and Nuapada. The mountain along with its forests and streams is the source of sustenance and livelihood for the people of the region besides being the site of a huge variety of medicinal plants and herbs. It is also a place of pilgrimage as it houses two important temples. The chapter highlights the environmental aspects as well as people’s religious and spiritual ties with the mountain that galvanized the resistance movement and successfully prevented BALCO’s mining plans.
Heaven is a forest of miles and miles of Mahua trees
And hell is a forest of miles and miles of Mahua trees with a forest guard in it.
—Muria saying
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Notes
- 1.
‘Muin kain korsi go…’ a song composed by the Gandhamardan cultural activist Gangadhar Sahu. He was inspired by the account of a woman lamenting the loss of the mountain if bauxite mining were to take place. The songs composed by him for the movement are popular till today.
- 2.
Prasanna Sahu, one of the leaders of the movement, is referred to as Swami Swamabesh now.
- 3.
It holds a 51 per cent stake in BALCO, while the remaining 49 per cent is held by the government of India.
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Padhi, R., Sadangi, N. (2020). Jai Gandhamardan. In: Resisting Dispossession. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0717-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0717-5_4
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