Nearly 1,000 tribal people held a dharna in front of Mohammedbazar police station for around three hours on Wednesday to protest the Bengal government’s decision of setting up the Deocha-Pachami coal mine that would allegedly result in the eviction of the adivasis from the hamlets they had been living for generations.
The protest was held under the aegis of a faction of the Birbhum Adivasi Gaonta, a platform of tribal people, which is against the proposed coal mine. The government is keen on starting mining by early next year.
“We don’t want to be evicted at any cost from our land. We don’t want a coal mine in our area as our livelihood is already in crisis because of existing stone mines and crushers,” said a protester.
