Civil society groups on Tuesday came together in support of Mahan Sangharsh Samiti (MSS) and demanded a response from Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan about the non-implementation of Forest Rights Act in the Mahan forests of Singrauli.
This comes two months after the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs VKC Deo wrote strong worded letters to the Chief Minister and Governor of Madhya Pradesh, about FRA violations in the Mahan forests in the Singrauli district.
The State Government has been tight-lipped about the issue and hasn’t come out with any response.
Priya Pillai, an activist who has been working with villagers in Mahan for the past two-and-a-half years for implementation of the Forest Rights Act, while talking to media persons here said, “The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has still not got a response from the Chief Minister. The State Government cannot afford to drag its feet over the issue.”
‘Pillai further said, “The MoEF granted Stage I clearance to the Mahan coal block (allotted to Mahan Coal ltd - a joint venture of Essar and Hindalco) last year, along with 36 conditions which includes implementation of FRA. However, the State Government has gone ahead and given an
NOC to the company on the basis of a fraudulent Gram Sabha resolution.”
A special Gram Sabha on FRA was held on March 6 this year in Amelia, which was attended by only 184 people. But the copy of the Gram Sabha resolution obtained through RTI (after four months) has 1,125 signatures - most of them, the villagers fear, have been forged. At a joint Press conference with MSS members on July 19, last month, Deo assured he would look into the matter.
“We have come to Bhopal to demand our rights from the Chief Minister. The Minister for Tribal Affairs had assured us of his support, but the State Government has not spoken a word on the issue,” said Ujiraj Singh Khairwar, member of MSS and a resident of Amelia. “The mine will render us homeless. For generations we have been dependent on the forests for our livelihoods,’’ he added.