Hasdeo-Arand Coal Block Clearance Explained: Forests, Energy Security and Tribal Rights

Forest clearance stage: The Advisory Committee has recommended Stage-I or in-principle approval for diverting forest land for the Kente Extension Opencast Coal Mine and Integrated Washery Project. The project is officially allocated to RVUNL in Surguja district.

Not final approval: Stage-I approval means the project has crossed an important screening stage, but final approval depends on fulfilment of conditions. MoEFCC’s own forest-clearance procedure notes that formal approval is issued after compliance with stipulated conditions.

Central Indian forest landscape: Hasdeo-Arand is a forested coal-bearing landscape in north Chhattisgarh. It forms part of the Gondwana coal belt but is also an important forest ecosystem with sal forests, wildlife presence and tribal dependence on forest resources.

WII assessment: The Wildlife Institute of India’s repository notes that more than 80% of the Hasdeo-Arand Coal Field and its surrounding landscape is forested. The same assessment recorded elephants, large mammals and strong livelihood dependence of local communities on forests.

Captive coal linkage: The Ministry of Coal allotted the Kente Extension block to RVUNL to meet coal requirements of Rajasthan’s thermal power projects, including Chhabra and Suratgarh units.

Energy-security argument: Rajasthan’s case is that coal from the block will support electricity generation for its thermal power plants. This is why the issue involves inter-state resource use: coal is located in Chhattisgarh, while power benefits are linked to Rajasthan.

In-principle approval: Stage-I clearance is conditional approval under the forest diversion framework. It does not automatically mean that trees can be cut or mining can fully begin.

Legal basis: Forest diversion for non-forest use requires prior approval under Section 2 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, earlier known as the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The 2023 Rules define the Advisory Committee and the process for considering such proposals.

Forest loss and fragmentation: Opencast coal mining removes vegetation, soil layers and habitat continuity. In a dense forest landscape, this can fragment wildlife habitat and affect ecological connectivity.

Elephant movement: The Advisory Committee record itself notes elephant movement around the proposed area and states that mining is likely to impact elephant movement around the Lemru landscape.

Tribal livelihood concern: WII’s biodiversity assessment notes that local communities in the Hasdeo-Arand landscape are predominantly tribal and depend heavily on forest resources. It also states that further mining in the landscape could escalate human-elephant conflict and that other areas of the landscape should be kept as no-go areas.

Fifth Schedule context: Surguja is listed among Chhattisgarh’s notified Fifth Schedule districts by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. Fifth Schedule areas are constitutionally sensitive because they involve governance of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes.

PESA link: The PESA Act extends Part IX of the Constitution to Scheduled Areas and recognises the special role of Gram Sabhas in community-resource governance.

FRA link: The Forest Rights Act, 2006 recognises and vests forest rights in forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers. It also gives Gram Sabha an important role in initiating the process for determining forest rights.

Wildlife management: The Advisory Committee said a site-specific wildlife management plan based on ICFRE-WII recommendations should be implemented at the cost of the user agency.

CAMPA and restoration: Funds for wildlife management and soil-moisture conservation are to be deposited in National CAMPA. The State must also submit progressive reclamation, restoration schedule and surrender schedule before Stage-II approval.

Tree translocation and compensatory afforestation: The conditions include phased felling, translocation of selected trees and notification of identified orange forest land as Protected Forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.

Expanded forest meaning: In T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India, the Supreme Court held that “forest” must be understood according to its dictionary meaning and that prior Central approval is required for non-forest activity in forests. Mining in forest areas therefore requires legal approval under the forest conservation framework.

UPSC relevance: This judgment is important for environment governance, judicial activism, forest conservation and the legal meaning of “forest” in India.

Apply a strict mitigation hierarchy: avoid, minimise, restore and compensate, with avoidance getting priority in high-biodiversity forest landscapes.

Ensure transparent implementation of Gram Sabha consent, FRA compliance and PESA safeguards before any irreversible forest diversion.

Make wildlife management plans independently audited, with special focus on elephant movement, human-elephant conflict and landscape connectivity.

Use satellite monitoring, public disclosure on PARIVESH and third-party ecological audits to track phased felling, reclamation and compensatory afforestation.

Improve Rajasthan’s long-term energy planning by combining coal-security needs with renewable energy, storage, grid flexibility and demand-side efficiency.

Strengthen compensatory afforestation by prioritising ecological quality, native species, survival rate and community participation, not merely plantation numbers.

Create a credible benefit-sharing and rehabilitation framework for affected forest-dependent communities.

Use this case to evolve a clearer national policy on no-go areas for coal mining in highly biodiverse and tribal-sensitive landscapes.