Hasdeo Forest Area

Hasdeo Forest Area

Subject : Geography

Section: Mapping

Context: Local women in Surajpur district of Chhattisgarh started a tree-hugging campaign on the morning of April 26, 2022, as they were being cut for the mining project in Hasdeo Aranya.

Concept:

The felling of tress in the Surjapur district started after the Chhattisgarh government gave the final clearance to the second phase of the Parsa East Kete Basen coal mines on April 6. Both projects are owned by Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam and operated by the Adani Group.

The Hasdeo forest covering Chhattisgarh’s Korba, Sarguja and Surajpur districts, spans an area of 170,000 hectares. It is a noted migratory corridor and has a significant presence of elephants.

It is also the catchment area of the Hasdeo river, the largest tributary of the Mahanadi. The area was declared as a ‘No-Go Zone’ for mining by the Centre in 2009. Despite this, mining in the region continued as the policy for the ‘No-Go Zone’ was not finalised.

Go No Go Area :

• In 2009, the Environment and Coal Ministries had jointly placed the country’s forested areas under two categories – Go and No-Go zones.
• ‘No-Go’ areas are regions that were classified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change as containing very dense forests and hence closed to coal mining.
• The exercise is aimed at prioritising forest areas under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
• ‘No Go’ areas are those having either more than 10 per cent weighted forest cover (WFC) or more than 30 per cent gross forest cover (GFC).