DEMAND TO STOP THE EXPANSION OF KETE COAL PROJECT

DEMAND TO STOP THE EXPANSION OF KETE COAL PROJECT

9-AUG-ENG 29

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA----------------------Former CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and former MP Brinda Karat has written a letter to Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav demanding a ban on the expansion of Kete Coal Project in Hasdeo Aranya area of Chhattisgarh. In this letter, she has strongly opposed the approval given in this matter and said that this approval has been given by ignoring the opinion of the concerned Gram Sabhas and the provisions of the Constitution and legal framework and by ignoring more than 1500 written objections to the government from the local communities.

In her letter, the CPI(M) leader has said that thousands of trees have already been destroyed and water and land have been polluted due to open cast mining in this forest area. Now further expansion of this project will result in cutting down at least 4.5 lakh trees from 1742 hectares of dense forest land. These trees are in dense forest, where native trees important for carbon absorption are in abundance. This will cause further devastation in these already badly affected areas and many villages outside this area will also be badly affected by this.

In her letter, Brinda Karat has drawn the attention of the Union Minister to the fact that there is no 'public interest' behind approving the Kete Extension coal project, as claimed. She says that this project has been given to a power company owned by the Rajasthan government, which had formed a joint venture with Adani Enterprises, in which Adani has a 74% stake. This company was appointed as the MDO (Mining Development Operator) of the Hasdeo-Parsa coal project. There is documentary evidence that a large amount of coal mined under this project has been sold to private power companies by declaring it as 'rejected coal'. Thus, this project is being run only for private profit and there is no public interest in it.

The CPI(M) leader has criticised the Union Minister's statement, quoted by the Times of India, that forests are being destroyed due to the Forest Rights Act. He has written that the reality is that our forests are being destroyed due to private mining projects in the name of development and strict conservation measures are needed to save them from the corporates. He says that the tribals of the Hasdeo region have once again proved that they are the real protectors of forests in India by opposing this project and by their efforts to save trees and nature from destruction.

CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat has expressed hope that the Union Minister will work to stop the indiscriminate cutting of forests and trees and the destruction of rich biodiversity areas instead of fulfilling the interests of the private company.