Rahul Somvanshi
For residents of Balda and Bannur in Odisha’s Koraput district, the question is personal: how did names, signatures and thumb impressions they say were never given become the basis for handing their forest land to a bauxite-mining project for 50 years?
Raghunath Khara says he did not attend the village meeting that recorded his thumb impression as consent. His name, and the names of his wife and sister, appeared in the resolution. Rama Hantal’s family says he has been paralysed for years and could not have attended or signed. Sahdev Khara says his mother, Gurubari, had died eight months before a document recorded her participation.
These accounts are part of villagers’ allegations that Gram Sabha consent for a bauxite mine at Balda Hill was forged or secured through misused records. The mine is being developed by Kalinga Alumina Limited, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises. The allegations have not been decided by a court. But the reported documents, sworn denials and approval timeline raise serious public-interest questions about the actions of both public authorities and the project developer.
What the villagers say happened
Government documents say 580 adults in Balda and neighbouring Bannur consented at Gram Sabha meetings on October 9, 2025 to land diversion for the mine. Elected village heads in both villages disputed that account and described the meetings as invalid, according to investigative reporting.
Villagers said they did not attend or consent, despite finding their names, signatures or thumbprints in the resolutions. The records allegedly include the names of deceased people, individuals whom residents could not trace, and people who say their signatures or prints were taken for another purpose.
Sunadhar Muduli told investigators that he had written names and obtained thumb impressions after a contract worker linked to the local revenue office said the information was needed for land-settlement work. The worker reportedly said he had been paid ₹3,000 to collect documents and did not know the signed sheet would be used in the mining-resolution file. If confirmed, that would raise the question of who repurposed the material, who verified it and why official safeguards did not stop it.
The responsibility of authorities
Gram Sabha consent in Scheduled Areas is meant to protect the land and forest rights of Adivasi communities. It requires more than a paper bearing names: meetings must be properly notified, attendance and quorum must be real, and residents must be able to make an informed decision.
Villagers said meeting notices were posted only a day before the event, although guidelines require advance notice. They also say community forest-rights claims overlapping the mining area were restricted or excluded while the project moved through approvals. The project received environmental clearance after a public hearing where residents had opposed it; by May 2026, approvals had been issued and forest land handed over on a 50-year lease.
That sequence makes public disclosure essential. The state should publish the meeting notices, minutes, attendance registers, consent sheets, evidence of identity verification, forest-rights decisions and the reasons officials treated the process as valid. An independent inquiry should examine whether documents were forged, whether consent rules were bypassed and whether any administrative or corporate actor bears legal responsibility.
What the company and officials said
The investigation reported that requests for comment were sent twice to the Adani group and its communications chief, as well as to Koraput’s district magistrate and superintendent of police. It reported receiving no response. Karmactive has not seen a public response from Kalinga Alumina, Adani Enterprises or the cited officials addressing the specific allegations. This article will be updated if they respond.
No evidence in the reporting establishes that Adani Enterprises, Kalinga Alumina or public officials conspired to forge documents. But the absence of a documented response does not resolve the questions raised by villagers. It reinforces the need for an investigation with findings that can be publicly tested.
A broader warning from Odisha
A 2024 Comptroller and Auditor General audit of land management in Odisha’s Scheduled Areas identified 136 consent-related violations in mining and other projects, according to reporting on the audit. In 73 cases, no Gram Sabha meetings had been held; in another 29, acquisition proceeded while disregarding village-council views. The audit is not a finding about Balda Hill specifically, but it places the villagers’ concerns in a wider governance context.
At Balda Hill, the core question is whether the state and project developer can demonstrate, through independently verifiable records, that affected people gave lawful and informed consent. Until that is answered, the lease remains under a serious cloud of public-interest questions.
Investigation credit: This report builds on Mahmodul Hassan’s on-the-ground investigation, records review and interviews for Al Jazeera. Additional reporting: The Hindu; and reporting on the 2024 CAG audit.
