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Villagers protest coal mines re-allotment in Chhattisgarh

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With the beginning of fresh allotment of coal blocks by the Centre, villagers of North Chhattisgarh, the area which is rich in coal reserves, have intensified their protest against the move.

As many as 17 gram sabhas, falling under Hasdeo-Arand coalfield, have passed a resolution opposing the reallotment of coal mines and have written to higher authorities seeking dialogue on the issue. "We won't allow any mining activity in our villages and forests. Through this resolution we have urged both the Centre and state government to neither allocate coal blocks to public sector undertakings nor to private players," Umeshwar Singh Armo, Sarpanch of Mandapur panchyat of the region, told PTI.

Hasdeo-Arand coalfield, spread over an area of 1,878 sq kms over Korba, Surguja and Surajpur districts in north Chhattisgarh, is located about 300 kms away from the state capital. Of the total area, 1,502 sq km area is under biodiversity-rich forest cover. The coalfield has total estimated reserves of 5.1709 billion tonne.

Around 30 blocks have been identified so far in the region, of which 16 were allocated to various public sector and private players but their allocations was subsequently cancelled following the Supreme Court order. Mining is operational in 3 blocks - Chotia by Prakash Industries, Parsa East and Kete Basan by a joint venture of Adani group and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited. "Without taking consent of gram sabhas, government has once again listed coal blocks of our region for fresh auctioning and allotment. It is violation of our rights," Armo said.

Thousand of villagers in 17 gram sabhas had gathered last month under the banner of Chhattisgarh Bachoa Andolan (CBA) and signed a six-point resolution demanding to honour provisions PESA Act of 1996 and Forest Rights Act of 2006.

Villages which passed the resolution are Fatepur, Hariharpur, Suskam, Salhi, Ghatbarra, Parogiya, Saidu of Surguja and Arsiya, Uchlainga, Khirti, Morga, Dhajak, Jampani, Madanpur, Keraipara, Puta and Paturiyadad of Korba.

Another villager, Jaynandan Porte from Ghatbarra village said, "The canopy of trees were so dense that hardly any sunlight fell on the forest floors of Hasdeo Arand. But now railway lines are being constructed to supply coal, mining is being done, which is destroying the habitat here." Convenor of CBA Alok Shukla said the resolution has demanded withdrawal of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance saying that villages won't allow to sacrifice their valuable natural resources, fragile environment, lives and livelihoods of poor adivasis (tribals) and farmers at the altar of narrow profits to corporate.

The effort is just to save one of the largest intact forest areas of Central India, inhabited by a large adivasi population and other forest dwellers, Shukla added. "The entire Hasdeo-Arand was declared as 'no-go' for coal mining by Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2010. Such no-go area represents only 8.11 per cent of the total potential coal bearing area in the country then why government is intends to mine only in this region?," Shukla asked.

"We have written letters to PMO, Coal Ministry, MoEF and Ministry of Tribal Affairs seeking appointments to hold a discussion on the issue," Shukla added.

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