"Chhattisgarh: Tree cutting for coal mine starts in biodiversity-rich Hasdeo amid protest; 10 people detained", 27 September 2022

The Chhattisgarh forest department started cutting trees for an upcoming coal mining project in the biodiversity-rich Hasdeo Arand region amid protest by locals and concerns raised by activists that mining in the area would result in forest destruction and trigger human-animal conflict. Heavy police force was deployed to facilitate the tree cutting exercise near Pendramar-Ghatbarra villages in Udaipur development block of Surguja district and at least 10 people were detained for allegedly instigating locals to oppose the action, officials said.

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Activist Alok Shukla, convener of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan NGO, which works for environmental causes and rights of tribals claimed that mining in the ecologically sensitive Hasdeo Arand region would result in the destruction of 1,70,000 hectare of forest and trigger human-elephant conflict.

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Shukla, whose organisation has been at the forefront of protest against allotment of these coal mines, said it is very unfortunate that despite assuring no new mines will be opened in the Hasdeo Arand region, the Congress government started felling of trees and detained the protesters.