The five coal blocks are found in the Hasdeo Aranya forests and in the nearby catchment areas of the Mand River. The area, rich in biodiversity, was previously identified as a prohibited area, to preserve endemic flora and fauna.
Days after the Jharkhand government moved the Supreme Court, the Chhattisgarh government raised a custom-made red flag from the Center to make available five of the nine coal blocks in the state.
The state environment minister wrote to Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, that the jungles around the coal blocks have been reserved for the Lemru elephant reserve and thus the blocks of coal should be removed from the auction list.
The five coal blocks are found in the Hasdeo Aranya forests and in the nearby catchment areas of the Mand River. The area, rich in biodiversity, was previously identified as a prohibited area, to preserve endemic flora and fauna.
The state environment minister, Mohammad Akbar, wrote that 1,995 square kilometers in Hasdeo Aranya are reserved for the Lemru elephant reserve, pending notification. “The state has recently seen an increase in elephant numbers coupled with an increase in human-animal conflict. For the coexistence of humans and elephants, the reserve was planned and is being worked on, “he said.
“It will not be correct to create carbon blocks in these areas, with respect to environmental security. Therefore, kindly remove the falling coal blocks in Hasdeo Aranya and the Mand River catchment areas should be removed from the current and future list of available coal blocks, ”Akbar wrote.
Earlier this week, nine village chiefs wrote to the Prime Minister requesting the removal of the five coal blocks from the auction list. The sarpanch requested that the jungles around their villages not be touched, as the villagers were already “atmnirbhar”. “We are a group of 20-gram panchayats. We all have time and time again through gram sabha and other means we have protested against coal mining and for the protection of forests, ”the letter said.
Environmental activist Alok Shukla said: “We welcome this letter from the government of Congress. The central government has clearly put the profit from the coal auction on its environmental and social costs. ”
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