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 soon, said a delegation of locals who met the Kalahandi collector and district magistrate.
The delegation came with a memorandum signed by 10,000 locals in the area and handed it over to Collector Gobinda Chandra Sathy on Thursday. They are also planning to meet the Chief Minister soon.
“We handed over the memorandum to the district collector. We will also meet the chief minister and request him to take steps to resume operations at the Vedanta plant,” 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 15,000 people depend on it for their livelihood directly or indirectly. If the plant remains shut for longer period, we will come to the streets,” said Subas Agrawal, another local.
Meanwhile, another delegation met the Rayagada collector and district magistrate, with the same request. The Vedanta alumina refinery was shut down from December 5, 2012, due to acute shortage of bauxite, the raw material to run the pant.