Dongria Kondh
Dongria Kondh also known as Dangaria Kandha are a tribe located in the Niyamgiri hill range in the state of Odisha. Niyamgiri,a hilly area that consists of streams, canyons and densely populated forests. The Dongria Kondh’s sustain themselves from the resources that they can gather from the forest and through livestock and farming .The name Dongaria is derived from the term ‘Dongar’ which means ‘agricultural land on hill slopes’ and they have named themselves as ‘Jharnia’ which means the protector of streams. They converse among themselves in the Kui Language that does not have a written script but is spoken among the Kondh tribe.
The members of the Dongria Kondh tribe worship the mountain God Niyam Raja and shows respect to the hills and streams and every aspect of their lives revolve around the mountain so much that even their art style is influenced by the mountains, i.e., the triangular designs found on village shrines. The Dongrias have distinctive hairstyles, jewellery and tattoos. The women members of the tribe wears a lot of rings on their ears and three rings on their noses, while the boys wear two nose rings. The girls of this tribe also wear clips in their hair and rings and beads around their necks. They live in villages spread throughout the hills.
Threat of Mining
Sterlite Industries a subsidiary of the Vedanta Group planned to mine bauxite from the hills of Niyamgiri as a joint venture with the state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation and had issued a proposal to construct an aluminium refinery at Lanjigarh. The refinery was opened in 2006, but it was put on hold after legal actions were filed against the company, stating that the refinery had broken environmental laws relating to the protection of the environment and rights of the local tribe. The company defended their actions by stating that mining should continue without any delay as aluminium could be produced more economically. The company faced massive opposition from the Dongria Kondh tribe, and this started an international level campaign against the company. The Wildlife Institute of India stated that the refinery would cause substantial damage to the environment and disrupt the way of life of the local people. The company refused to accept the environmental claims and instead said that it was adamant in improving the local economy and providing new facilities through massive PR campaigns which turned out to be a sham. The campaign against the mining proposals gathered support from Survival International and individuals like Arundhati Roy, Michael Palin, etc. In 2010 The Government of India put a hold on the mining development of the company by issuing a statement that the company had flouted environmental laws and had negatively affected the rights of the Dongria Kondh. In 2013 the Supreme Court of India ordered the Government of Odisha to consult with the local tribes, citing the protection provided to the tribal and forest groups under the Forest Rights Act 2006. Twelve Dongria Kondh village councils were consulted and after all having rejected the mining proposal, the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on January 2014 announced that mining cannot be held in the Niyamgiri Hills region.
Covid and the Dongria Kondh
Recently, 19 Dongaria Kondh tribals tested positive for COVID-19 and a medical camp was set up at Parsali on the foot of Niyamgiri hills so that they can be tested, but they didn’t show up. The Dongria’s don’t trust the modern medical system and are strongly adamant of the belief that they won’t be affected by the pandemic. Officials are worrying that they may reject the vaccination too and efforts are being made to ensure that they cooperate with the medical teams and get themselves vaccinated.
