Ecostani: From Chhattisgarh to Sariska, mining takes precedence over conservation

The government has diverted 1.7 lakh hectares of forest for projects between 2014 and 2023-24, according to a reply in Lok Sabha.

India’s lush forests have often been a source of greed for politicians and industrialists who see them, not as biodiversity hotspots, but as a revenue source.

A mine worker without proper footwear or protective gear in Rajasthan. (Raj K Raj/HT File Photo)

From pristine forest land in mineral-rich Odisha and Chhattisgarh to the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, forests have been diverted for environmentally hazardous mining activities with impunity.

Last week, the Chhattisgarh forest department felled trees in 200 acres of forest between Mudagaon and Saritola villages in the Tamnar tehsil of Raigarh district to operate a coal mine in the Gare Palma Sector II coal block, the latest example of trees being felled for mining despite protest by locals.

The mine has been allotted to Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MAHAGENCO) and the Mine Developer and Operator (MDO) is the Adani group. Local villagers have opposed the mining.

On Thursday, the Chhattisgarh forest department withdrew its directive that barred other government departments, NGOs, and private entities from undertaking any work related to Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR) issued under the Forest Rights Act (FRA). The directive issued on May 15 had put community forest resources under the forest department, taking away the rights of the village bodies to administer these resources. The move in May was met with severe backlash with protests reported in several districts such as Ambikapur, Kanker, and Bastar that termed the order contrary to the FRA’s spirit.

The forest department said referring to the forest department as the “Nodal Agency” was a typographical error, which had already been corrected through a corrigendum dated June 23. However, due to the confusion and unrest that followed, both the original letter and the corrigendum have now been formally withdrawn, officials said.

The decision was seen as the state government’s attempt to execute its plan to expand mining activity in the state. In Chhattisgarh, the state government has started exploration of 13 new minerals such as bauxite, limestone and graphite, across forests. Around 44 new mineral blocks were auctioned in 2024-25 financial year, according to official records.

“The new mines would face difficulty in getting approvals if the community rights are with gram sabhas as was the case with Raigarh project. Gram Sabha consent is necessary for mining and diversion of the forest land,” said a senior retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) official. He added that by taking away the village body’s right and giving it to the forest department would have made gram sabha consent redundant.

In Rajasthan’s Sariska Tiger Reserve, the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife this month approved the plan to de-notify 48.39 square kilometres of the reserve area and include 90.91 square kilometres of degraded forests in the reserve. The area being de-notified includes the core and buffer of the tiger reserve.

The denotification, according to documents seen by HT, shows that it would provide mining for 50 marble and dolomite mines within Sariska. The Rajasthan mining department has already listed the mines that can be operated in the denotified areas. As per the documents, the de-notification of prime forest land in Sariska would witness a retreat at multiple points of the boundary allowing mining. It will also interrupt internal tiger movement corridors in Sariska hampering tiger conservation.

Sariska falls in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, whose member of Lok Sabha is Bhupender Yadav, union environment minister, and legislator is Sanjay Sharma, the state environment minister. The proposal to rationalise the boundaries of Sariska Tiger Reserve was approved by the central environment ministry in a month.

Both Yadav and Sharma have said that the decision will benefit Sariska because land double the size of the denotified forest area will be added to the tiger reserve. However, environmental activists claim that the forest being added is highly degraded and has a huge human presence making it unfit for tiger habitat.

In Odisha, the BJP-led state government has announced the auction of 30 iron ore mines in 2025 to “strengthen” the steel industry. The In Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, a central public sector undertaking, will soon start two new coal mines, Saubhadra and Balabhadra, having a combined reserve of 35 million tonnes. In addition, approvals for 636 minor mineral mines, mostly in forest areas, have also been granted.

The government has diverted 1.7 lakh hectares of forest for projects between 2014 and 2023-24, according to a reply in Lok Sabha. Of this, during the period from 2021-22 to 2023-24, forest area measuring 59,882.07 ha was diverted for various non-forestry purposes including infrastructure projects.

Between 2004 and 2013, around 3.43 lakh hectares of forest land was diverted for all types of developmental projects. To be sure, the difference in the forest diversion can be attributed to the rule change under which the Central government does not record forest diversion for projects whose approval are granted by the state governments.

Rampant developmental activities have resulted in loss of 2.33 million of forest cover between 2000 and 2023, a 7.1% decline. According to a report by Global Forest Watch, the loss of trees within India’s primary forests (having more than 30% canopy cover) have increased since 2014. The primary forests are mostly in the Himalayan region, in the tribal belt of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand and Western Ghats and some parts of Eastern Ghats.

According to the report, which was based on Forest Survey of India reports, the highest loss of tree cover in primary forest was in the years 2014 and 2015 and then in 2023 and 2024. The main reasons for tree cover loss were agriculture, logging, settlements, mining and infrastructure development.

Amid the increasing forest loss, India’s record on compensatory afforestation is not very good. Less than half of the compensatory afforestation is actually done on ground and at the place of loss of trees.

In 2022, the environment ministry brought changes in the Forest Conservation Act, allowing compensatory afforestation in unclassed and degraded forest claiming that there was not enough primary forest for this exercise. Studies have shown this would have triggered twin damages --- first trees will be lost in primary forest and second, genuine forest will be replaced by plantation. The amendment has been challenged in the Supreme Court.

The Indian forests and wildlife conservation laws have been repeatedly diluted to suit the industries, who have been rarely held accountable for the damage they have caused. The government replacing punishment with fines has allowed the industry to more vigorously violate the norms. Only those who are being punished are the wildlife such as tigers in Sariska, who now have to live with the constant mining noise inside their home.