A ‘No-Go Zone' for mining in Chhattisgarh has been opened up for coal mining. Over 2 lakh trees in the Hasdeo Aranya forest, spread over 841 hectares, will be lost if the Parsa opencast coal mining project takes off. 

The largest unfragmented forests in Central India, home to pristine Sal and teak forests, stand to be removed for coal mining.

Last year, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel met tribals who had marched 300 kilometres to the state’s capital Raipur. The CM allegedly told the protestors that the Central government was pushing for coal mining in the region. However, the final approval last month came from the Chhattisgarh government, after which the felling of trees began in the region.

The mining project has begun despite warnings issued by the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) in consultation with the Wildlife Institute of India. The ICFRE had recommended that 14 coalfields out of the 23 coal blocks comprising the Hasdeo Aranya Coalfields, should not be used for coal mining, keeping in view the conservation of biodiversity in the relatively dense moist-dry deciduous sal dominated forest tracts that provide a home for elephants.

The ICFRE also flagged how mining operations in the region were aggravating Human-Elephant-Conflict (HEC) in the region.

The report observed, “Chhattisgarh human-elephant conflict situation is a paradox with a relatively low number of elephants (<300, which is <1% of India’s wild elephant population) but high levels of HEC with over 60 human lives lost every year due to conflict (>15% of the reported human deaths due to HEC).

The project will also displace around 700 people, tribals who depend on the forest for their survival.

Is this going to be the face of development in our country, of helpless poor being uprooted from their humble dwellings when coal needs to be mined by big corporations?

The Union Government declared the area as a ‘no-go zone’ for mining in 2009. Yet, mining has continued unabated over the years. And now, more trees are being felled.

As per recent media reports, tree felling in the area has started without mandatory prior approval from the National Wildlife Board and the National Tiger Conservation Authority. 

Meanwhile, local Adivasis and activists who are protesting against the project have been named in FIRs invoking sections of the IPC related to fraud, rioting, unlawful assembly, intent to cause hurt and criminal intimidation, among others. 

Let’s be the voice of Adivasis who want to protect the Hasdeo Aranya Forest. Click on this link to share this petition on Twitter tagging the right decision makers. https://cutt.ly/5GVyCc9