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Gandhamardan The Bauxite Battleground
By Basudev Mahapatra
At 58, Jambavati Birja of Dunguripali village near Paikmal in Bargarh district of Orissa has a reason to be upset. The news of big companies making their way to dig out bauxite from Gandhamardan hill range has turned into a nightmare for Jambavati and her husband Iswar who have lost almost everything in their fight to save the hill range that is the abode of their God Nrusinghanath. Jambavati is believed to be one of the saviours of Gandhamardan because twenty five years back she stopped heavy earthmovers from mining the bauxite reserves in the belly of the hill by throwing her two sons before the wheels of the trucks and herself calling the heavy vehicles to ride over her.
During her struggle to save Gandhamardan, Jambavati’s husband Iswar lost his job in a government department. They lost seven acres of their family land to the government for their involvement in the movement against BALCO that had come to extract the bauxite from Gandhamardan. But, they have no regrets over what they have lost because the efforts resulted in saving Gandhamardan.
