Mining giant Vedanta Resources has mounted a staunch defence against allegations that one of its major expansion projects will destroy the way of life for an entire Indian tribe. Survival International...claims that Vedanta's proposals to create an open cast bauxite mine would destroy the remote Dongria Kondh tribe, which lives in the mountainous east Indian state of Orissa... Survival is targeting not only Vedanta and its London-based chairman Anil Agarwal but has written to shareholders including Coutts Bank, Standard Life, Barclays Bank, Abbey National and HSBC... However, Vedanta firmly denies that its actions will have such a major effect, claiming that modern mining methods will allow it to mine the bauxite...without destroying the local environment.