Indore: Men and women from different walks of life in Indore stood together as environment activists to protest against the chopping off of Buxwaha forest, in Chhattarpur district on Monday.
Expressing their anguish on the possibility of cutting 382.131-hectare patch of the protected Buxwaha forest, members of political parties, trade unions and social organisations stood side by side on Regal Square with placards on Monday evening.
Further, under the leadership of former advocate general Padma Shri Anand Mohan Mathur, a human chain was formed in front of the divisional commissioner's office of Indore in support of the demand of save the environment, save the forest.
The activists urged the government not to sign the contract giving 300 hectares of forest land on 50-year lease for diamond mining to Aditya Birla Group’s Essel Mining & Industries Limited as it would ruin the environment and affect the tribals.
Ramswaroop Mantri, Piyush Joshi, Shyam Sundar Yadav, Arvind Porwal, Ajay Lagoo, Sarika Srivastava, Kailash Limbodia, and others discussed the issue and shared various details about the project. Following are the highlights of the issue on which MP has been witnessing protests for the last two months now.
What is at Stake?
According to the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), among India's four diamond-reserve states – Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha – Madhya Pradesh alone accounts for about 90.18 per cent. National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) is actively pursuing prospective diamond blocks in these states.
