A section of activists fighting for Adivasi rights in the state believe that there is no point in having a tribal chief minister if he continues to overlook the community’s priorities to facilitate corporate interests in Chhattisgarh.
On December 22, the felling of trees in the biodiversity rich forest started despite protests from locals and activists. Hasdeo Arand is one of the last unfragmented forest landscapes in central India.
Spread across over 1,500 kilometres through central India, the area is home to India’s tribal communities, with an estimated five billion tonnes of coal buried under the dense forests. Mining has become a huge business in the area, leading to protests by the locals.
According to an investigation by Scroll.in in April last year, the Adani Group has been excavating coal from the PEKB mine since 2013 on behalf of Rajasthan’s state electricity generation company, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, to whom it was originally allocated.
Activists alleged that those who were travelling to the area to protest against the felling of trees were detained by the police on the morning of December 22.
03/01/2024