Impact of Industrialisation on Sustainability of Natural Environment and Tribal Communities in Odisha, India

Abstract

Based on an empirical exploration, the dominant objective of the paper is to understand the impact of industrial projects, for example, National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) on the sustainability of tribal communities as well as the surrounding natural environment. The contemporary industrial project has devastated the natural capital through its industrial practices, such as over-extraction of natural resources, over-passage of decomposed wastes, contamination of water bodies, inordinate drilling out of groundwater, etc., without any concern for the existence of nature as well as the rich culture developed by the tribal communities. In this context, the study unearths an empirical understanding of NALCO in Koraput, Odisha, and its impact on the sustainability of the tribal village communities as well as their symbiotic relationship with the natural environment. The empirical investigation has been conducted in selected tribal villages located in and around the NALCO.