New Delhi, Sept 10
The Congress on Thursday accused the BJP-led central government of supporting “ecocide” by pushing ahead with the auction of the Tara coal block in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo-Aranya region, despite repeated demands from local communities to protect the region’s dense forests.
Congress General Secretary and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said in a statement said, “The auction of the block in the biodiversity-rich Hasdeo-Aranya ecosystem would entail the destruction of more than 4,000 acres of dense forest and the clear-felling of more than 10 lakh trees.”
He said that the Tara coal block covers an area of about 5,000 acres, of which over 4,000 acres is dense forest.
Ramesh also said, “No amount of compensatory afforestation, a bogus idea to begin with, can ever make up for the wanton destruction of such a huge natural forest area.”
“Mining in Tara block — now renamed Tara (Revised), which makes no significant difference — is yet another example of an ecocide being executed with the full support of the Prime Minister himself,” Ramesh said taking a pot shot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He alleged that the auction was particularly contentious because the Chhattisgarh Assembly had unanimously resolved in July 2022 that no further coal blocks should be allocated or auctioned in Hasdeo-Aranya.
The State government subsequently told the Supreme Court in an affidavit in July 2023 that there was no need to allocate or develop any new mines in the region.
“The Union Coal Ministry had also denotified 40 coal blocks, including Tara, from the auction process, in October 2023,” Ramesh said.
In a post on X, he shared a June 2023 letter from the Chhattisgarh government to the Union Coal Ministry, seeking the exclusion of nine coal blocks, including Tara, from the auction.
He even claimed that the winning bidder for the Tara block, is CG Syn-Gas and Chemicals Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mundra Synenergy Limited, which is in turn wholly owned by Adani Enterprises Limited.
He also pointed out that for nearly 15 years, Adivasis and other local communities have opposed mining in Hasdeo-Aranya, through Gram Sabha resolutions, public campaigns, sit-ins, and protest marches, including protests in Raipur.
The Congress leader also highlighted the impact of mining on the Lemru Elephant Reserve.
Ramesh said mining around the reserve would severely disrupt the movement corridor of elephants, while putting several other species, including critically endangered ones, at further risk.
