Changing Rules, Expanding Mines, Whose Forest is it Anyway?

PUBLISHED: MAY 2023

The MoEFCC granted special concessions to coal mining projects in 2017 in the Barka Sayal area to address a coal shortage within the country which allowed existing mines to increase production by 40%. No public hearing was held at the time due to exemptions granted to the companies based on their promise to keep pollution within permissible limits, not acquiring additional land and not increasing the transport of more coal through the roadways.

These conditions are often not met, however, and numerous reports of non-compliance exist. Local tribes have made numerous complaints to the government, but do not get a response. Environmental participation report author Meenakshi Kapoor explores the impacts of disenfranchisement of local communities and tribal peoples of North Urimari, as the government fast-tracks large project approvals and removes environmental protections in this article from Carbon Copy.

This story has been supported by the International Center for Not-for-profit Law as part of a study on public participation in environmental decisions. Learn more about our work in Asia and the Pacific here.