(3 minutes read)
· Zambia-based Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has agreed to settle claims by Zambian villagers, who sued the mining conglomerate over pollution
· KCM is a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources, which has operations in India also. The case has been pending since 2015, when the villagers had filed a claim in a London court in 2015 against KCM for compensation
· The affected group, which included 643 children, maintained the toxic discharge has a direct bearing on the health of people living in nearby villages, as well as farming and fishing activities — their primary source of income
Zambia-based Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has agreed to settle claims by Zambian villagers, who sued the mining conglomerate over pollution. KCM is a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources, which has operations in India also. The case has been pending since 2015, when the villagers had filed a claim in a London court in 2015 against KCM for compensation. The company is one of Africa’s largest copper producers. The case against Vedanta was that its effluents from the copper plant and Vedanta Nchanga Copper Mine- were polluting water sources and adjoining land.
The mine situated in Zambia’s central Copper belt region, has been caught up in various court cases. The affected group, which included 643 children, maintained the toxic discharge has a direct bearing on the health of people living in nearby villages, as well as farming and fishing activities — their primary source of income.
KCM was pleading that the jurisdiction of the case was in Zambia and not in Britain. However, Britain’s Supreme Court in 2019 granted the villagers permission to sue KCM and Vedanta in London. Vedanta and the villagers’ legal representative Leigh Day said the claims had been settled without admission of liability. Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer. The Nchanga Copper Mine is the country’s biggest private employer, with around 16,000 staff.
