Sarpanchs of 13 villages from Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district have written to Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar against allowing private bidding for five coal blocks in Tamnar.
The sarpanchs have stated in their letter that the decision to operate the coal blocks goes against the gram sabha’s stand and an NGT order from February 2020.
Gare Palma IV/7, one of the coal blocks from the region, has received the highest bids in the country.
The central government earlier made changes to the list with 41 coal blocks up for auction. On September 1, following opposition by the Chhattisgarh government and environment organisations, five coal blocks from the Hasdeo Aranya area, which is rich in biodiversity, were replaced with three blocks — Dolesara, Jarekela, and Jharpalam-Tangarghat.
