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The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on Friday dashed off a letter to Chief Wildlife Warden of Chhattisgarh seeking a factual report in connection with the allegations of tree felling and coal mining operations without mandatory clearances.
The letter by NTCA Assistant IGF Hemant Singh has asked Chhattisgarh for a factual report in connection with tree felling and coal mining operations in Parsa Coal Block in that state that have started without the mandatory clearances from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) and the NTCA itself. However, Chhattisgarh Chief Wildlife Warden PV Narsingha Rao questioned the very letter. "How can NTCA write a letter to us? There is no Tiger Reserve in the Parsa Coal Block," Rao told IANS. "Relevant section of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 says that if any area connects the tiger reserve with a tiger reserve or a protected area, then any environmentally unsustainable activity requires a permission of the NBWL based on the recommendation of the NTCA. The section 38(O)g of this Act relates to the powers and authority of the NTCA," Kanchi Kohli, a senior researcher with the Centre for Policy Research said. Parsa Coal Block is one of the 23 coal blocks under the Hasdeo Arand forest -- deemed as the largest contiguous stretch of dense forest in central India - that is spread over 1,70,000 Ha. More than a decade ago, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had termed the Hasdeo Arand area as a 'No Go' zone for mining owing to the rich bio-diversity in the dense forest but later gave it away. However, allowing mining in the area was not decided. The letter was prompted by a complaint lodged by activist Alok Shukla of Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan. As per media reports, a massive protest had erupted in Parsa Coal Block in Surguja division in Chhattisgarh when allegedly 300 trees were axed after the state government gave the green signal to non-forestry use of forest land in that project area earlier in the month for more than 800 Ha of forest land spread over two districts, Surguja and Surajpur. Reportedly, the project proponent has been allowed to divert 1,136.328 Ha land currently, leading the activists to claim that more than 2.40 lakh trees in the dense Hasdeo Arand forest would need to be felled. Among the many reports from multiple agencies, the latest report from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun had recommended against mining operations as it said: "The intact habitat connectivity with tiger source population and the relative vastness of the landscape could augur well for recovering tigers." --IANS niv/pgh ( 444 Words) 2022-04-29-22:50:04 (IANS)
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