Context: Opposition uproar over coal mine project in Chhattisgarh.
Hasdeo-Arand area
- The Hasdeo Arand coalfield is spread over an area of 1,879.6 km2 and comprises 23 coal blocks.
- Hasdeo Arand is a large coalfield with 1.369 billion tons of proven coal reserves and 5.179 billion estimated coal reserves.
Ecology
- The forest is home to 82 species of birds, 167 varieties of vegetation out of which 18 are considered threatened, and endangered butterfly species.
- The forest is a habitat and a major migratory corridor for elephants and has had confirmed sightings of tigers.
- Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education has described it as "the largest un-fragmented forest in Central India consisting of pristine Sal and teak forests."
- The forest also acts as the water catchment area for the Hasdeo river, thus maintaining its perennial flow.
Hasdeo river
- Hasdeo River is the largest tributary of Mahanadi River.
- The river flows in the state of Chhattisgarh.
- It joins Mahanadi River near Shiladehi (Birra).
- Hasdeo Bango Dam is constructed across this river. The river originates in a place about 10.0 km (6.2 miles) from Sonhat in Koriya district.
- The major tributary of Hasdeo River is Gej River.
- The river flows through the Hasdeo Arand forest.
Development so far
- The coalfield was recommended to be mined in by the Chhattisgarh government in 2010 by diverting 1,898.393 hectares of forest to the Parsa East and Kanta Bavan (PEKB) coalfields which would be allotted to RRVUNL, a state-owned power utility of Rajasthan.
- This was challenged in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which suspended the mining work in 2014, but the order was stayed by the Supreme Court, where the matter remains pending.
- In 2013 Adani Enterprises announced that its subsidiary Adani Mines would become the mine developer and operator for the PEKB coalfields under a contract with RRVUNL, giving it access to the 450 million tons of coal reserves of the mine.
- Coal mining was halted in the PEKB coalfields by mid-August 2022 following widespread protests against the phase 2 extension of it led by local villages that would've been displaced or affected by it.