By Tannistha Dey
Congress chief Jairam Ramesh has again expressed concern over what he terms “blatant irregularities” in the approval of Adani Group’s Dhirauli coal mine project in Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district.
The project is said to entail the diversion of nearly 3,500 acres of forestland located in five villages, while at least three other villages in the vicinity also rely on these forests for their livelihood as well as resources.
Ramesh referred to a 2023 reply in the Lok Sabha by the Coal Ministry that the Dhirauli mine falls in an area covered under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. This goes against a recent denial by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), where the land was said not to be under Fifth Schedule protection.
“The Environment Ministry’s assertion is incorrect,” Ramesh tweeted on X on Wednesday, attaching a screenshot of the Coal Ministry’s 2023 Lok Sabha reply. Ramesh accused the ministry of deluding people by rejecting the constitutional protection status of the land.
He also questioned the ministry’s assertion that correct legal procedures under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, had been adhered to. In Ramesh’s view, the Act safeguards not just individual forest rights, but also community forest resource (CFR) rights and habitat rights, particularly of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) — all of which he asserts remain unresolved in the affected villages.
Ramesh brought to notice that on March 31, 2022, the District Collector attested that rights under the FRA had been settled and PVTG rights were protected. Nevertheless, he noted that according to the Madhya Pradesh government’s own records, no community or habitat rights have been recognized in any area of Singrauli district, where the eight involved villages are situated.
Up to this point, there has been no word from either the Environment Ministry or the Adani Group regarding these fresh accusations.