Congress alleges FRA violations in Adani coal mine project in MP; state govt rejects charge

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday alleged that the Adani Group has begun cutting trees on government and forest land for its coal mine project in Madhya Pradesh's Dhirauli in "blatant violation" of the Forest Rights Act. The state government, however, rejected the allegation as baseless.

The former environment minister also claimed that the Modi government imposed this allotment from above in 2019, and is now rushing ahead with it in 2025 without the essential legal clearances.

"This is simply because Modani is a (f)law unto itself," he said on X.

There was no immediate reaction from the Adani Group or the Centre to the charges, but the Madhya Pradesh government claimed that the project was granted final approval by the environment ministry.

"In Dhirauli, Madhya Pradesh, Modani has begun cutting trees on government and forest land for its coal mine - without Stage-II forest clearance and in blatant violation of FRA, 2006 & PESA, 1996. Villagers, mostly Scheduled Tribe communities and even a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), are rightly protesting," he said.

The coal block falls in a Fifth Schedule Area, where tribal rights and self-governance provisions are constitutionally protected, Ramesh pointed out.

"These protections have been ignored - no Gram Sabha consultations have occurred, despite provisions in Panchayats (Extension To The Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, and judgments by the Supreme Court making Gram Sabha consent mandatory," he alleged.

The Forest Rights Act, 2006, mandates that Gram Sabhas must decide on the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes, Ramesh said, adding that Gram Sabha approvals in this case, however, appear to have been bypassed.

Stage-II clearance from the Ministry of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change for the diversion of around 3,500 acres of prime forest land has still not been approved, "even as Modani begins the deforestation", Ramesh claimed.

Families earlier uprooted by projects now face eviction again - a double displacement, he said.

Mahua, tendu, medicines, fuel wood, all will vanish with the implementation of this project, he further claimed, adding that this will directly impact the livelihood of the Adivasi communities "Forests are not just sustenance, they are sacred to the local Adivasi groups. Compensatory afforestation is a very, very poor ecological substitute," he said.

"The Modi government imposed this allotment from above in 2019, and is now rushing ahead with it in 2025 without the ESSENTIAL legal clearances. This is simply because Modani is a (f)law unto itself," Ramesh said.

Refuting the charges, the Madhya Pradesh government said all necessary approvals and processes have been duly followed and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has granted Stage-II approval (final approval) for the Dhiroli project.

It claimed that the project land neither comes under the PESA area nor the Fifth Schedule Area, and a public hearing had been carried out as per rules and with the Gram Sabha approval. It also said the process of paying total compensation of Rs 18 crore to 49 patta owners is underway at the district level.

Earlier this month, Adani Power said it had received the coal ministry approval to commence mining operations at the Dhirauli mine in the Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh.

According to the statement, Adani Power has received approval from the Ministry of Coal to begin operations at the Dhirauli mine. PTI ASK SKC RHL