Chhattisgarh: Villagers clash with police as tree-cutting for Parsa coal block starts

Surguja SP Yogesh Patel said about 350 policemen were deployed to prevent villagers’ from interfering with the tree-cutting activity

RAIPUR: A group of villagers clashed with police personnel on Thursday as the tree-cutting drive for the Parsa coal mine in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district started on Thursday, leading to injuries to eight police personnel and four villagers, officials said.

The Parsa coal block has been allocated to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL)

Surguja superintendent of police (SP) Yogesh Patel alleged that the villagers attacked the policemen with sharp-edged weapons.

“The tree-cutting drive for Parsa coal block started on Thursday and around 350 policemen were deployed to prevent villagers from interfering in tree-cutting activity. Some villagers carrying dangerous weapons such as sticks, axes, and slingshots attacked the police resulting in injuries to eight officers. Four villagers also sustained injuries,” Patel added.

The Parsa coal block was allocated to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL) under the coal mine developer-cum-operator (MDO) scheme of the central government. Adani Enterprises was awarded the operation of the mine through competitive bidding.

Activists claimed that 700 people would be displaced and 840 hectares of dense forest would be destroyed due to the Parsa mining project. As per the 2009 census of the forest department, around 95,000 trees were expected to be axed.

Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, an organisation working for tribal rights in the region, in a statement said the administration was taking repressive actions against unarmed villagers who are protesting against the forced opening of the Parsa coal mine in the Hasdeo forest.

“The forest and environmental clearances for the Parsa coal mine are based on forged documents, and the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan has demanded that this mine be immediately cancelled,” the statement said, adding that the gram sabhas of Hariharpur, Salhi, and Fatehpur village had never given their consent for forest clearance.

In a post on X, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticised the ruling BJP. “It has become the policy of the BJP to oppress the tribals across the country. The tribals who have been the owners of the forests for centuries are being evicted so that Adani ji’s mines can operate”.

“Has the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution been abolished in Chhattisgarh? Tribals are being evicted from areas protected under the fifth schedule. Will the rights of tribals on water, forest and land and ancestral heritage be decided through fake processes?,” the Congress leader said in the post.

She recalled that the Chhattisgarh assembly had unanimously passed a resolution when the Congress was in power that trees would not be cut in the Hasdeo Aranya area. The BJP had also supported the resolution, but today despite the opposition of the tribals, they are being asked to vacate the forest.

Asked, Chhattisgarh BJP’s chief spokesperson Ajay Chandrakar said “I have only one thing to say that what is happening there is very sad..”

When contacted, Adani Enterprise did not comment on the incident.