Скачать или смотреть Voices of Hasdeo Arand: How Coal Is Driving Humans and Elephants to Conflict

This study examines one of India’s most significant environmental movements, led by the indigenous communities of the Hasdeo Arand forest in Chhattisgarh. Through a sociological and legal lens, it investigates the complexities surrounding an area designated under the Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, yet allocated for coal mining to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RRVUNL), with operations subcontracted to Adani Enterprises Ltd. Since 2013, the villagers of Ghatbarra, Hariharpur, Salhi, and Fatehpur have actively resisted these developments, fighting for their identity, economic autonomy, legal rights, and communal way of life. This research forms part of a series of field-based essays produced by the Visual Storyboard team at the Centre for New Economics Studies (CNES), OP Jindal Global University, dedicated to amplifying the voices of tribal communities in Chhattisgarh. In October 2021, a new clearance was granted, allowing mining to begin Parsa and Kete Extension while operations had already begun in Parsa East and Kanta Basan (PEKB) coal block. This decision came despite a Biodiversity Assessment Report, prepared by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), warning of adverse impacts on the region’s ecology. The report, which was commissioned by the state government, acknowledged the risks but still recommended that mining could proceed with "strict environmental safeguards."
However, this recommendation contradicted another key report, submitted in September 2021 by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The WII, in a more exhaustive study, advised that the entire Hasdeo region—except for the operational mines—should be kept free from any further mining. According to WII’s findings, coal mining in Hasdeo would cause irreparable damage, not just to the forest but to the communities that depend on it and the wildlife that thrives there.

Camera Credit: Mohit Kumar