What is Happening in Hasdeo?
Known as the “Lungs of Chattisgarh”, the Hasdeo Aranya forests are one of the largest intact dense forest areas in Central India covering an area of 1,70,000 hectares. It is home to rich biodiversity with over 450 species of flora and fauna including critically endangered species like elephants, leopards, sloth bears, etc. The catchment area of Hasdeo (Mahanadi’s largest tributary), which is critical for irrigation of almost 3 lakh hectares of double-cropped land in the “rice-bowl” state of Chattisgarh.
Despite being declared by Environmental Ministry in 2010 as an area “out of bounds” for coal-mining, over the decade, Hasdeo has been threatened many times by expansion of mining activities and illegal acquisition.
The Adivasi people of the area have staged a sit-in protest against the mine for months now. They have maintained that the area is a declared Fifth Schedule area, an Adivasi-dominated area, where permission of the gram sabha is necessary for such decisions.
The Congres-ruled Chhattisgarh state government approved the Parsa coal mine in Hasdeo forest, after receiving a green signal for it from the central government last year. The Parsa coal mine, spread over an area of โโ1,252.447 hectares in Surguja and Surajpur districts, has 841.538 hectares of area, out of which 410.909 hectares falls under forest land.
Allotted to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, the coal mine was handed over to the Adani Group by the Congress government of Rajasthan, by contracting the mine on a Mine Developer-cum-Operator basis.
Activists fear that some 4.5 lakh trees will be cut if the mining process is completed. Parallel to this will be the immense destruction of Adivasi livelihoods.
This is the doublespeak of Congress: they appear to stand against Adani in the Parliament, while in the governments they are in power, they invite him to demolish the lives of tribal people.
