Hasdeo Aranya: A Million Trees And Other Costs Of Coal

By Pranav Capila

Ramlal Kariyam stands where he stood three years ago, on a ledge overlooking the Parsa East and Kente Basan (PEKB) coal mine. He is 30 now; he looks older, his stubble is flecked with grey, but that isn't surprising given the struggle of the intervening years.

The PEKB mine seems quieter at first glance: there are fewer machines gnawing at the earth, less coal-dust in the air. Then a cloud of dust erupts on our right, way off in the distance below the treeline. "Udhar blasting kar rahe hain Phase II ke liye... they are blasting in the area where Phase II mining has begun, where trees were cut down last year," Ramlal explains.

And then I see it: the bare earth where trees had stood; the hillside being subsumed into the mining pit; the remnant forest behind, awaiting its end.

The PEKB coal mine. Photo: Pranav Capila.

Displacement, Deforestation, Intimidation

For those who have come in late, I’d suggest a brief detour to my December 2021 visit to Hasdeo Aranya (Coal Mines and Buried Promises in Hasdeo Aranya, Sanctuary Asia, February 2022). It’ll provide some background on this forest that wasn't supposed to be mined: the importance of these 170,000 contiguous hectares in the Central Indian tiger and elephant movement landscape; the 23 coal blocks of the Hasdeo Arand Coal Field that lie within; the repeated suppression of expert opinion – proffered by successive Forest Advisory Committees, by the Wildlife Institute of India – that the area is too biodiversity-rich for mining to be allowed; the controversial green-lighting of the PEKB open-cast mine; the attempts to displace the forest-dependent adivasis (Indigenous tribes) through inducements, falsehoods and intimidation; the consolidated struggle of the adivasis to protect their water, forests and lands (jal, jangal, zameen) under the Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (HABSS).

The Hasdeo Aranya forest. Photo: Pranav Capila.

Right now, the focus in Hasdeo Aranya is on three coal blocks: Parsa, PEKB, and Kente Extension, all allocated to the state-owned Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL), with Adani Enterprises as the Mine Developer and Operator (MDO).

Adani Enterprises has “pioneered the [MDO] concept” (per their website), becoming, with the PEKB mine, the first private organisation to provide “end-to-end mining solutions” to a state-owned power utility (RRVUNL). Among the key customer offerings they tout are land acquisition, facilitating permits and clearances, resource evaluation, and life-of-mine planning and design.

Let's look at land acquisition, with a focus on the Parsa coal block. When I visited in 2021, villagers in Salhi, Hariharpur, and Fatehpur told me that the company had been trying various strategies – job offers, money, threats – to get them to part with their land. They also alleged that since those tactics hadn't worked, Gram Sabha agendas had been altered to state that they had agreed to give up their land for mining.

Now, the Chhattisgarh State Scheduled Tribes Commission has validated their claim. A letter dated 30/05/2024 from the Commission's Secretary to the Commissioner, Surguja division, states: "Upon examination of the entire issue, it is known that the resolutions passed in the Gram Sabhas organised on 27.01.2018 in Salhi village and on 24.01.2018 in Hariharpur village are not as per process. There was no directive by the Zilla Panchayat for a special Gram Sabha for land acquisition or change in the nature of the land" (emphasis added). The Commission has directed that a status quo be maintained until a final order is passed, but the entire land acquisition process for Parsa must now be considered suspect.

Let's examine resource evaluation and life-of-mine planning and design, with a focus on the PEKB block. When Forest Clearance for PEKB was granted in 2012, it was specified that Phase I would last 15 years, with mining permission for Phase II linked to biodiversity management and reforestation in Phase I. The annual capacity for the mine was fixed at 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) at the time, but this was increased to 15 MTPA in 2018, with a revised Environment Clearance obtained (an exercise in 'facilitating permits and clearances'). Within a couple of years, in a letter to the Environment Ministry (MoEFCC) dated 09/09/2020, RRVUNL claimed that the Phase I area would be exhausted well ahead of time, necessitating an early expansion to Phase II. It also claimed that the initial calculation of mineable reserves for Phase I, 137 million tonnes, had been an error; the actual reserves were just 82.01 MT. (A media-led investigation in 2022 alleged that coal from PEKB Phase I had been diverted to Adani-owned power plants.)

Forest Clearance for PEKB Phase II was granted in March 2022. While 762 ha. of forest were cleared in Phase I, another 1,136 ha. – an area 1.5 times larger – is being destroyed in Phase II.And that's not all. A public hearing is scheduled to be held on August 2, 2024 regarding the Environment Clearance for the Kente Extension coal block. "This coal block covers 1,762 hectares, of which 97 per cent is forest land," says Alok Shukla, HABSS founder, convenor of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Aandolan, and recent Goldman Environmental Prize awardee (see box below). "If Kente Extension is mined, you will see 500,000-600,000 trees cut. Between PEKB Phase II, Parsa and Kente Extension, 900,000 to a million trees could be felled. We are now fighting to save a million trees."

Trees marked for felling near Ghatbarra. Photo: Pranav Capila.

Strong-arm Tactics

Lest there be any confusion, the fight, from the adivasis' side, has only ever taken the form of peaceful sit-in protests, padyatras, expression of their will through self-government, entreaties to politicians, and appeals to the relevant authorities when their rights have been subverted. The tactics from the other side – whether the mining company, the local administration, or the successive state governments that have played a game of political football with the tribals – have been, shall we say, more dubious.

When tree-felling for PEKB Phase II was first attempted in 2022 – amidst allegations, this time by villagers from Ghatbarra, that the Gram Sabha consent had been faked – it was stymied by protests. On July 26, the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a private member resolution urging the Central government to cancel all coal blocks in Hasdeo Aranya. On September 26, the Chhattisgarh Forest Department granted permission for tree-felling; HABSS leaders were detained and 41 ha. of forest land were cleared in the next few days.

This pattern was repeated in December 2023, with permission having been granted for the deforestation of 93 ha. On December 21, Alok Shukla was illegally detained while travelling to Hasdeo from Raipur. (His car was allegedly intercepted at Kathgora by men who claimed to be plainclothes officers, but refused to provide identification; he was not presented in any court or police station, nor was he allowed to contact his family.) Meanwhile, a massive police force was deployed in villages near the deforestation site; villagers were "counselled" not to interfere; tribal leaders were allegedly detained and released only after the tree-felling was complete.

At 2 a.m. on March 25, 2024, the day of the Holi festival, a temporary shelter in a field outside Hariharpura was mysteriously set ablaze. According to reports, the adivasis had been agitating at the site since 2022. An FIR was lodged but no culprits have been identified. The scorched earth and the charred remains of the structure are still visible at the protest site, which lies just 200 m. from the PEKB mine.

And yet, I see that a new structure has come up; men and women are still sitting on protest at the site. "They burnt down one structure, we built another,” Thakur Ram Orkera, a resident of Hariharpur, says simply. “Injustice will not prevail over justice. Our agitation will continue."

The protest site where the adivasis' shelter was burnt down. Photo: Pranav Capila.

Graveyard Of The Living

"Inke log gundagardi karte hain, camera chheen lete hain... There could be trouble; the company doesn't like people documenting areas where trees are going to be cut," I am warned. We weave through the forest on motorbikes, avoiding village roads, arriving at a grove on the edge of PEKB, close to Ghatbarra. With me are Ramlal (Salhi), Thakur Ram Orkera (Hariharpura), Ramesh Choudhary (Paturiadand), Buddh Ram (Tara Charpara), and Nan Sai (Ghatbarra) – five men from five adivasi villages, united by one cause, a microcosm of the Hasdeo Aranya movement.

As we walk through the forest, I see that each of the trees has been marked. A patch of outer bark has been stripped away and a number painted on the exposed trunk: 800, 916, 930, 1083, 1893... I stop counting after a while; it feels like I'm taking a roll call of the condemned. With the destruction of another 91 ha. of forest land imminent for PEKB Phase II – on July 12, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan thanked his counterpart from Chhattisgarh for permitting the deforestation – these trees will probably be gone by the time you read this. And as the forest goes, Ghatbarra will go.

"Sheher ke log nahin samjhenge; city people won't understand our relationship with the forest," says Buddh Ram. "It gives us everything we need: fresh air and water, fruits and medicines. We can live a happy life here even without money. Is that possible anywhere else? It would be better to die than to leave here and live somewhere else."

I hang back as the men walk over to the edge of the mine. Here lies a monster that would swallow their forest up whole – and them with it, for neither could survive without the other. "Our ancestors were nurtured by this land; they protected it down the generations," Ramlal says, turning to face the trees. "So, we must protect it for the generations to come."

"Someday, my daughters will say: 'Haan, papa ne ladd ke bachaya thha iss jangal ko...' They will say with pride that their father fought to save this forest for them. They will remember our struggle and learn from it."

Pranav Capila is an editor and writer, who tells stories about wildlife, wild spaces, and unsung heroes on the frontlines of conservation.

“Once you make people aware of their rights, they are capable of making their own decisions and fighting their own battles.”

An interview with Alok Shukla, founder of the Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (HABSS) and recipient of the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize, awarded to grassroots environmental champions from around the world.

Tell us a little about your background. What has driven your involvement in grassroots environmental conservation?

I was born in Madhya Pradesh in a typical rural, farming-dependent family. I studied in my village until Class 12. When you grow up in that milieu, there is a certain rootedness to the earth, to nature.

I came to Chhattisgarh, a newly-formed state, for my college education in 2002. During my college years, I was following the news of an ongoing grassroots agitation against the privatisation of the Shivnath river. By a twist of fate, immediately after I finished college, I was introduced to a person from the Nadi Ghati Morcha (NGM), which was driving this agitation. I began working with the NGM on issues related to river pollution. This is when I met the legendary Brahm Dev Sharma, the former IAS officer who had dedicated his life to working for tribal rights. I was inspired by him; I realised that he had left the system to work with the people, so I should not become a part of the system. I should work to save the environment at the grassroots level.

How did you get involved with the Hasdeo Aranya issue?

I visited the Hasdeo river in 2004, as part of an exposure trip with NGM. From 2005-2006, I stayed in a village in Janjgir, organising an agitation against river pollution. I learned how vital the river is for the local people, for agriculture in the entire region.

In June 2011, I came to Hasdeo Aranya for the first time with Hira Singh Markam, adivasi leader of the Gondwana Gantantra Party. When I learned of the 23 coal blocks and their potential impact, the connection was immediate: if these forests – the catchment of the Hasdeo river – were to go, the river would go. So, when we formed the Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti in 2012, we knew we were fighting for the jungles, the river and the people who depend upon them.

One of the most noticeable things, both times I've been in Hasdeo Aranya, is how well informed the adivasis are about their legal rights, how unified and organised they are.

When I started working in the area in 2012, I saw that people didn’t even know about the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the importance of self-government mechanisms such as Gram Sabhas therein. They were certain that they didn’t want to give up their land, but they felt that they wouldn’t be able to stand against the government.

So, we didn’t speak about mining at all initially; we wanted people to understand their rights. Laws can be passed to redress historical injustices, but if the people who are to be empowered by those laws are unaware of them, that is itself an injustice.

We held meetings in every village, setting up projectors, showing documentaries, making PowerPoint presentations, distributing flash cards. Bit by bit, the message began to spread: the decision to give up your jal, jangal, zameen – your water, your forests, your land – is in your hands; land acquisition and forest diversion are not possible without your consent, expressed through the Gram Sabha.

The result of our work over two years was that in 2014, when the Central government held coal block auctions, 20 Gram Sabhas across Hasdeo sent a clear message that the coal blocks in Hasdeo should not be auctioned since the people would not be giving up their land. Once you make people aware of their rights, they are capable of making their own decisions and fighting their own battles.


Alok Shukla at a meeting of the Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti. Photo: Pranav Capila.

What significance does the Goldman Environmental Prize have for you?

I have just collected the award; it is the agitation to save Hasdeo Aranya that has received the award. With this award, our struggle, which has persisted for over a decade, has been acknowledged on a global stage.

The battle for Hasdeo Aranya is not a battle for one forest. It is a battle against a particular model of development. You cannot claim to be fighting climate change while simultaneously destroying thousands of acres of old-growth forests to dig out coal, a key driver of our climate crisis . The State and Central governments should understand this.