Residents of Amelia village in Mahan region of Singrauli district have taken a significant step towards asserting their rights over Mahan forests. The village level forest rights committee on Thursday kick started the process of filing the first Community Forest Rights (CFR) claim. In a letter to the sub-divisional level committee (SDlC) in Waidhan, the forest rights committee in Amelia demanded the disclosure of documents that prove their dependence on Mahan forests and will help them fill the claim application later on.
The move will put a spanner in the works of the State Government and Mahan Coal ltd, who have been pushing for Stage II environmental clearance for mining in Mahan coal block, which falls in the Mahan forest. The block threatens to destroy the lives of livelihoods of people living in 14 villages in the region, including residents of Amelia.
Priya Pillai, member of Mahan Sangharsh Samiti (MSS) and senior campaigner with Greenpeace India, who has been has been working in the villages in Mahan around the implementation of the FRA said, “Filing of the first CFR claim is a big victory for the villagers of Amelia. As per the Forest Rights Act (FRA), villagers can file claims for the recognition of Community Forest Rights. The ‘call for documents’ is the first formal step towards this process, where the forest rights committee at the village level writes to the SDlC to furnish all historical documents, which can help them prove their claim.”
Hardayal Singh, who is the chairperson of the village level forest rights committee, hopes that the SDlC will be proactive in furnishing the required documents so that the CFR claim process can be initiated. “These documents are important for us as they will help us claim our community rights in the Mahan forests, which is now threatened by coal mining. Members of MSS in my village have been proactively pushing for the implementation of FRA in the Mahan forests. My entire village is dependent on the forest for their livelihoods,” added Singh, who is also a member of MSS.