New Delhi: The tree felling for Parsa East and Kanta Basan (PEKB) phase-2 extension coal mines in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Arand forest has begun despite protests from the Adivasi community and activists. The question whether Vishnu Deo Sai, the state’s first tribal chief minister, will intervene in the matter has immediately become a dominant concern, and perhaps, the first big challenge for the newly appointed chief minister.
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, known for its rich mineral wealth underneath dense forests that has been home to Adivasis for centuries.
“Yes, Chhattisgarh has got its first tribal chief minister and the Adivasi community felt that maybe he will act in their interests. But the manner in which Adivasis are being oppressed and corporate interests are being upheld in Hasdeo, it has become clear that the tribal chief minister is [wearing] a mere mask, and what corporates will decide, only that will happen,” Alok Shukla, convenor of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, told The Wire.
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.
Shukla told The Wire that Adivasi activists, including Ramlal Kariam, Jayandan Porte, and Thakur Ram, were picked up from their homes and detained. Shukla himself was stopped by some persons who were not in police uniform, while on his way to Hasdeo on December 22 morning. They were taken to Bilaspur and released late at night.
“I had left from Raipur and was on my way to Hasdeo to meet other activists, and I was picked up on the way and taken to Bilaspur. Ajay T.G., who is a documentary filmmaker, was also with me. After Ajay contacted some lawyers around 4 pm in the evening, word of our detention got out,” he said.
However, the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has denied that the police detained anyone, reported Press Trust of India.
On Wednesday, Sai, while speaking to reporters, blamed the previous Congress government.
“They should see that the permission for deforestation is from a time when it was their (Congress) government in power… Whatever has happened, even if it is deforestation, is happening with their permission,” he was quoted by the news agency as saying.
Former deputy chief minister and Ambikapur MLA T.S. Singh Deo, a political strongman from the Sarguja region where Hasdeo is located, met protesters and said that he had spoken with the chief minister about the ongoing protests in Hasdeo Arand.
Earlier, after meeting with the protesters, Singh Deo told reporters that as a tribal himself, Sai was expected to protect their interests.
“The chief minister of Chhattisgarh himself comes from the tribal community of Surguja division – it is expected from him that he will listen to the protesters. At least protect the interests of the community from which he has come forward and got the opportunity to lead the state,” he said.
