In the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, tribal people from three separate parts of the state have joined forces to tackle Adani’s Godda coal-power station. The power plant will use coal imported by Adani from its Carmichael mine. The Godda power plant is impacting people’s lives in several far-flung locations.
गुरुवार को झारखंड के गोड्डा जिले में स्थित सुंदरपहाड़ी ब्लॉक के आमजोड़ा गांव में आदिवासी अस्तित्व और पर्यावरण सुरक्षा का ऐलान किया गया। कल दिनभर चले सम्मेलन में गोड्डा पावर प्लांट, बोआरीजोर ट्रांसमिशन लाइन, साहेबगंज रिजर्वोयर आदि प्रोजेक्ट प्रभावित इलाकों में रहने वाले करीब 500 लोगों ने शिरकत की।
Defenders of India’s Hasdeo forests enjoyed a huge breakthrough last week, when the relevant state government said it was suspending works on three Adani coal-mining projects. The decision was made following dissent against the mining by a high-profile member of the ruling Congress party in the state of Chhattisgarh. Adivasi (tribal) people have strenuously opposed the coal mines because of the threats to their ancestral lands and way of life. They have called for the stay on the mines to be made permanent.
Congress figurehead, Rahul Gandhi, has said tribal protests against Adani’s coal mines in the Hasdeo forests are ‘justified’. Results of his work behind the scenes on the ‘problem’ should be ‘visible in a couple of weeks.’
In India, a conflict between various state governments and the central Modi government is developing over Modi’s determination to proceed with a controversial auction of 41 coal blocks. In the state of Chhattisgarh, a proposed elephant reserve in the Hasdeo Aranya forest could prove crucial to whether coal mining in these biodiverse forests proceeds. But if the reserve is compromised to enable mining it will worsen human-elephant conflict for the indigenous Adivasis.
