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Raipur. Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Dr. Charandas Mahant has written a letter to Governor Vishwa Bhushan Harichandan and urged him to stop the activities of excavation and felling of trees from all the coal blocks of Hasdeo Aranya Coal Field and to direct registration of crime against the responsible persons.
Informing through the letter, Dr. Charandas Mahant has written that the Chhattisgarh State Scheduled Tribe Commission has investigated the allegations of the villagers about passing fake Gram Sabha proposals to obtain the necessary permissions for excavation in the Parsa coal block. In this investigation, the Commission found the allegations of fake proceedings of the Gram Sabha to be primarily correct and on 30 May 2024 ordered to maintain the status quo without taking any further action for mining in the Parsa coal block. A copy of the order is attached. Without presenting the proposal in the meetings of the Gram Sabhas and without the proposal being passed, mentioning the passing of the proposal in the proceedings by forging it is a serious criminal case, which has been carried out conspiratorially. Due to this forged proceedings, permissions were given by the Government of India on 02.02.2022 for the coal block allocation area of 1136 hectares (village Parsa and Kete). On 23.10.2021, a letter was sent by Anusuiya Uikey, the then Governor of Chhattisgarh to the Chief Secretary of the State, directing him to investigate the fabricated proceedings of the Gram Sabhas, submit a report and stop excavation related activities in the Parsa coal block till the investigation is completed. A copy of the letter is enclosed.
On 26 July 2022, a private resolution was unanimously passed in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly that, this House is of the opinion that all the coal blocks allotted in the Hasdeo area should be cancelled. The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution is applicable on the entire Hasdeo Aranya coal field (which includes Parsa coal block) and hence the Panchayat Agreement (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) is applicable in this area. According to clause (d) of Section 4 of this Act, it is necessary that schemes, programs and projects for social and economic development should be approved by every Gram Sabha of the area. But this has not been followed in the case of Parsa coal block. Apart from this, clause (j) of Section 4 has also not been followed in relation to acquiring land and resettling or rehabilitating the persons affected by the project.
Taking action in compliance with the orders of the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi and the Supreme Court, the Biodiversity Assessment Study of Hasdeo Aranya coal field was conducted by the State Government through Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) Dehradun and Wild Life Institute of India. Its report has been received by the State Government in 2022, but the recommendations of this report are also being grossly ignored and the coal excavation activities are being carried forward by the State. After the counting of votes for the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly General Election, 2023 and even before the formation of the new government, on 11.12.2023, permission for felling of 15307 trees in 91.130 hectares of forest area in the above coal field of Hasdeo Aranya was issued unauthorizedly by the officials, which is illegal.
From the above facts, it is clear that the state government is neither respecting the constitution, nor the resolution of the assembly, nor is it serious about the interests of the scheduled tribes, nor is it following the provisions of “PESA”, nor is it concerned about the biodiversity of the forest areas. The only goal of the state government is to allow coal excavation at any cost, which will give a particular external company immense profit. Thousands of affected forest dwellers have been agitating against coal excavation for a long time. Apart from Hasdeo Aranya coal field, there are many such coal blocks in the state, which can be allotted. Therefore, it is not necessary to excavate coal from the same area by causing irreparable damage to the state and forest dwellers. Therefore, such circumstances have arisen that the Governor of the state should immediately intervene and using the special powers conferred on him, ban the activities of coal excavation and felling of trees from the subject coal block located in Hasdeo Aranya area and all other coal blocks and direct to register criminal cases against the persons responsible for the fraudulent proceedings of the Gram Sabhas.
