Chhattisgarh government seeks nod to mine forests amid red flags: Report

The Chhattisgarh government is seeking permission to start mining in the forests of Hasdeo Aranya Coal Field (HACF) even as a biodiversity report from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) recommended that the area should remain untouched.

The push for a nod to start Phase-2 of mining in the Parsa (East) and Kete Basan (PEKB) coal block was recorded in a meeting of the Union Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee on October 28. Classifying it an “instant request”, the committee discussed diversion of forest land for PEKB coal block’s Phase-2 across 1,136 hectares of forests, according to a report by The Indian Express.