Raipur/Raigarh: Public outrage has erupted in the tribal-dominated Dharamjaigarh area of the highly polluted and industrialized Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh, over the alleged attempt to forcibly acquire land within a Fifth Schedule area. This marks a potentially fierce confrontation between the Adani-owned Ambuja Cement, which is backed by the district administration, and the affected villagers.
The flashpoint is the proposed underground coal mining project in the Purunga Panchayat of Dharamjaigarh block. Ambuja Cement has been allocated the Purunga coal block, covering a vast area of 621.331 hectares of forest land, 26.898 hectares of non-forest land, and 220.796 hectares of private land.
The mining operations are set to impact 10 tribal villages and the dense Kokdar reserved forest, a permanent habitat for wild elephants.
The villagers organized a special gram sabha under the PESA Act; they unanimously passed a resolution opposing the project and demanded the cancellation of the environmental public hearing scheduled by the local administration for November 11, 2025.
Villagers warn that the underground mining will disturb groundwater levels, leading to the drying up of water sources, environmental imbalance, and a spike in human-elephant conflict. They cite grim statistics of 167 villagers being killed in elephant attacks and 69 elephants dying since 2001
Villagers of Puruga, Savarsingha, and Kokodar gheraoed the office of the district administration, demanding the immediate cancellation of the public hearing and requesting a dialogue with a competent authority on their "burning issues."
MLA Laljit Singh Rathiya gave a public warning, stating, "Any attempt of the coerced land acquisition for the proposed coal mining will be forcefully opposed. Nothing will be allowed to proceed against public will."
Environmental Activist Rajesh Tripathi alleged a larger political conspiracy, alleging that powerful people with vested interests are "behind the fuelling mining activities in the area, manipulating all the established laws." He accused them of wanting to uproot indigenous tribals from their ancestral lands. "The government wants to lay red carpet for Adani to carry out mining without addressing the worries of the locals, which is an unconstitutional and anti-people move," he alleged.
Sajal Madhu, a local resident, said: "The government supports Adani Mining which wants to snatch our lands without addressing our problems. We will not allow this gross injustice to happen."
Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Praveen Bhagat confirmed receipt of a memorandum opposing the hearing. "At present the district administration has not cancelled the public hearing," he said.
The SDM further said that the company officials claimed that its underground mining proposal would prevent massive displacement and that no adverse situation would arise, as operations would only commence after forest clearance. Despite this assurance, villagers insist the mining will make the area unfit for living creatures, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown on November 11.
Coal block auctioned in Dharamjaigarh Forest circle
M/s Ambuja Cement Adani Purunga
Karnataka Power Ltd
Durgapur Shahpur Secl
Baisi Indramani Pvt Ltd
(1562 Hect Forest Land, 490 Hect Reserved Forest)
