Brinda Karat voices concern against Chhattisgarh’s approval for mining in Hasdeo region

In a letter to Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav, senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat has opposed a recent Chhattisgarh government’s approval of diversion of a large forested land in the Hasdeo region of the State for mining purposes.

In her letter, the former MP and Special Invitee, CPI(M) Central Committee, wrote there was no public interest involved in the project and it would only lead to exploitation of mineral resources for private gain.

A recommendation letter dated June 26, in which the Forest department has approved the proposal for diversion of forest land for non-forestry purpose — coal excavation work in the Kete Extension Coal Block Open Mine Project of the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam or RNUVL, surfaced online on August 4. In the letter uploaded on government’s PARIVESH website, Forest department official from Surguja district Abhishek Jogawat has based the recommendation on a survey done by him.

The approval has also faced criticism from the Opposition Congress and environmentalists in the State. Demanding its cancellation, they have accused the ruling BJP of sacrificing the interests of the people of State as well as ecological concerns for the benefit of their capitalist friends, specifically the Adani conglomerate that is the mine developer and operator for RVUNL.

Echoing similar concerns, Ms. Karat in her August 6 letter sought Mr. Yadav’s intervention to “reverse the destructive decision of the Chhattisgarh Forest department to give the green signal for the operationalisation of the Kente Extension Coal Project which requires the destruction of 1,742 hectares of dense forest land.” The approval follows the so-called inspection of the site by the Surguja District Forest Officer in June this year, she added.

Ms. Karat further wrote that these projects were being taken up ignoring the opinions of the gram sabhas involved and the provisions of the Constitution and legal frameworks that made consent of the gram sabhas mandatory.

“Open cast mining affects a very large geographical area beyond the actual project. So even though human habitation in this specific area is negligible, many villages outside the area will be deeply affected. Earlier, more than 1,500 written objections from local communities were given to the government. But these have been ignored,” she wrote.