October, 2025: Approved permanent transfer of 271.92 acres of non-forest land in Noamundi to Hindalco Industries Ltd. for compensatory afforestation in lieu of diverted forest land for Chakla coal block.
October 2025
Newsletter
Justice in Mining Network
South Asia
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Dear friends,
Johar!
As we mark a decade since the historic adoption of the Paris Agreement, the upcoming CoP30 in Brazil stands as a crucial moment for global climate politics. India’s Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, in his address at the Pre-CoP30 Ministerial Roundtable in Brasilia, underscored that “Multilateralism remains the cornerstone of global climate action.” His statement captures both the aspirations and the contradictions shaping climate policy today — the need to balance global commitments with local realities and justice.
The global climate discourse increasingly revolves around “transition minerals” and “clean fuels,” positioned as essential tools for achieving low-carbon development. However, these transitions are often embedded in extractive practices that externalize costs onto communities and ecosystems in the Global South. Policies of carbon offsetting, compensatory afforestation, and carbon credit trading, though presented as climate solutions, are now becoming instruments of corporate profiteering. They convert the shared resources of forests and lands into commodities, alienating the very communities who have historically protected them.
In Jharkhand, this contradiction is stark. The Supreme Court’s directive to declare Saranda Forest a sanctuary, while seemingly a conservation measure, has ignited intense resistance among the Adivasi communities of Singhbhum. For generations, these communities have lived within and sustained the ecological integrity of Saranda. The proposed sanctuary threatens to exclude them from their ancestral forests under the pretext of protection. Their peaceful resistance has been met with repression — arbitrary arrests, police violence, and intimidation — revealing how conservation policies can reproduce old colonial patterns of dispossession.
Simultaneously, mining corporations continue to receive environmental clearances, often on the condition of “compensatory afforestation” in distant regions. Such measures, meant to mitigate ecological loss, instead displace new communities and disrupt additional ecosystems. The allotment of 271 acres in Noamundi, Singhbhum for the deforestation of 863 hectares in Latehar’s Chakla coal block exemplifies this double displacement — both environmental and social — carried out without the consent of affected communities.
The communities of Singhbhum have also mobilized against the unregulated passage of heavy trucks transporting iron ore through their villages. These trucks have caused numerous accidents and damaged local roads and ecology. In response, villagers launched a peaceful no-entry movement to reclaim their safety and dignity. The state’s reaction was brutal — police used tear gas, arrested 75 Adivasis including 11 women, and sought to silence legitimate dissent.
Across the country, civic and democratic spaces are shrinking. Human rights defenders such as Arunachal-based Ebo Mili and Ladakh’s Sonam Wangchuk have faced harassment and arrests for their advocacy. Journalists who seek transparency and accountability — including Ravish Kumar and Rajeev Pratap — and independent media platforms like Newslaundry have been subjected to restrictions and punitive actions. The message is clear: the fight for climate justice is inseparable from the fight for democratic rights and free expression.
Yet, despite repression, people’s movements across India continue to keep the spirit of resistance alive. From the 16th Coal Satyagraha in Jharkhand to the ongoing sit-in movements in Latehar demanding forest titles (pattas), from the resistance against uranium mining in Meghalaya to the protests against corporate coal projects in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh — communities are asserting their right to land, forest, and life. These struggles remind us that climate action cannot be divorced from social justice. It must centre the voices of those who live closest to the forests, rivers, and minerals that sustain the planet.
As we look toward CoP30, the message from the ground is unambiguous: climate justice must move beyond numbers and negotiations to genuine recognition of people’s rights, consent, and participation. The path to a sustainable future lies not in corporate-led transitions, but in community-led stewardship of nature, rooted in equity, dignity, and self-determination.
Thank you.
Compilation: Deepti Mary Minj
Edited by: Antony, PM
justiceinminingnetwork@gmail.com
I. Environment
Village heads on 30 September protested before a group of Jharkhand ministers the proposed move to declare Saranda Forest a wildlife sanctuary, officials said. Saranda forest is one of India's most ecologically significant regions, known for its rich biodiversity, elephant corridors, and iron ore deposits. Irked over non-compliance of its orders, the Supreme Court on September 17 directed the chief secretary of Jharkhand to personally appear before it on October 8 to show cause as to why the state government has not notified Saranda Wildlife Sanctuary and the Sasangdaburu Conservation Reserve as a conservation reserve. In the public meeting, headmen of 56 villages in the Saranda forest region said that people of the area depend on the forest for their livelihoods and the restrictions imposed after declaring it as a wildlife sanctuary would affect them. They also raised concerns over fears of displacement and highlighted the poor state of health services.
On 14 October, a massive protest rally was taken out in West Singhbhum district by various Adivasi groups against the proposal for declaration of Saranda as a wildlife sanctuary.
The central president of the Adivasi Munda Samaj Vikas Samiti, Budhram Laguri, said the Sanranda forest includes 50 revenue villages and 10 forest villages, where about 75,000 people reside. “We have deep social, religious and economic ties with the forest. Religious sites like Sarna, Deshauli, Sasandiri and Masna located in the forests of Saranda are linked to our identity and culture. A wildlife sanctuary declaration will erase our Adivasi culture there,” he said. Further, he said that the decision for a sanctuary is against the provisions of the 5th Schedule of the Constitution, which ensures protection and rights of indigenous areas.
On 27 October, the Court reserved its verdict on the final extent and boundaries of the proposed sanctuary. It has permitted SAIL’s existing mining operations to continue under current leases, while directing the State and authorities not to grant any fresh mining leases in the area. Click here to read more.
Questions about rehabilitation, where should Adivasis go: Palamau Tiger Project mired in controversy
On January 28, 2025, Prajesh Jena, a senior official of the Palamau Tiger Project, applied to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It was stated in the application that Navrango village is situated in the core area of Palamu Tiger Project, hence voluntary rehabilitation of this village is very important for the conservation of tigers. Adivasi communities have been living in tiger-reserved areas with tigers and other natural creatures for centuries. But the Forest Department's rehabilitation policy ignores this. When a government department itself bypasses official procedures and oppresses Adivasi communities, what can Adivasi communities do? Click here to read more.
In a meeting of the Jharkhand Cabinet Ministers on 24 September, chaired by the Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the group of ministers approved permanent transfer of 271.92 acres of non-forest land in Noamundi to Hindalco Industries Ltd. for compensatory afforestation in lieu of diverted forest land for Chakla coal block. The department of Forest, Environment & Climate Change was responsible for this. Hindalco has acquired 863 hectares of land in 2021 for the Chakla Coal block for North Karanpura Project in Latehar. The Chakla Coal block has coal of Grade G11, with the production capacity of 4,500,000 TPA.
A carbon market allows investors and corporations to trade both carbon credits and carbon offsets simultaneously. This claims to mitigate the environmental crisis, while also creating new market opportunities. Carbon credits, also known as carbon allowances, work like permission slips for emissions. When a company buys a carbon credit, usually from the government, they gain permission to generate one ton of CO2 emissions. With carbon credits, carbon revenue flows vertically from companies to regulators, though companies who end up with excess credits can sell them to other companies. Click here to read more.
Eight revenue villages have disappeared from the face of the earth, or whose remnants are living next to a burning coal over-burden, and a burning underground. The names of the villages are and were: Parsa-Beda, Banji, Barughuttu, Kedla, Duni, Parej, Durukashmer, and Pundi.
At the remaining houses of Agarwa Tola of Barughuttu, sometimes, at night, a tree would catch fire without anyone knowing, and it would fall on the nearest house. The fires are underground and it kills the roots slowly. It was in 1940s that the Maharaja of Ramgarh gave a lease to Ramgarh and Bokaro Limited for ‘999 years’ to avoid the coming influence of the Bihar Land Reforms of 1952 which would have curbed the rule of the zamindari. According to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957, a lease can only be for 30 years, and since the 2015 amendment, 50 years. In 1973, it was sub-leased to Tata and in the 1990s-2000s Tata wanted to start open-cast mining but the lease did not specify on surface areas. Click here to read more.
II. Shrinking Civic Spaces
On October 27th, at Tambo Chowk in Chaibasa, Adivasi people from the area were laughing, playing, dancing, singing, and cooking, protesting against the city's no-entry ban on large iron ore-laden vehicles. Police resorted to lathi-charge in the dead of night. . Tear gas was fired. Police have filed an FIR against 75 Adivasi people, including 11 women, under several serious charges, including attempt to murder. The same Adivasi people who were protesting with song and dance against the violation of their right to life. Soon after the announcement of a peaceful people's movement, four leading youth – Madhav Chandra Kunkal, Rayans Samadd, Ramesh Balmuchu and Sona Sawaiyan – were secretly arrested on 25 October. It is clear that on this issue, the government stands with the mining companies, not with the people. The Mahasabha strongly condemns this anti-people, repressive action by the police and administration. Such a repressive and anti-people attitude on the issue of Adivasi and indigenous rights is completely unacceptable from a government that won elections. Large trucks and dumpers loaded with iron ore from the iron ore mines of Noamundi and Manoharpur ply throughout the day and night on NH 220 and 75. Accidents and deaths are common. There has long been a demand for a no-entry ban during the day in this densely populated area. But yesterday, the response was lathicharge, tear gas, and jail. Click here to read more.
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| Human rights lawyer and environmental activist Ebo Mili was prevented from boarding a flight to Dhaka from Kolkata airport on Saturday.(File image) Arunachal Pradesh’s human rights lawyer and environmental activist Ebo Mili was prevented from boarding a flight to Dhaka from Kolkata airport on Saturday, due to a lookout notice issued by the state police. Mili was scheduled to attend the Regional Infrastructure Monitoring Alliance (RIMA) conference in Dhaka from October 5 to 7. The existence of the lookout notice was confirmed by IGP (Law and Order) Chukhu Apa. Mili has been a prominent opponent of the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, and the police have filed several cases against him related to his activism. Mili stated he was “very tired” of the Arunachal police’s actions, noting that he had fully complied with all recent police summons. Click here to read more. |
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| Sonam Wangchuk looks on while on a hunger strike demanding constitutional safeguards and statehood in the Himalayan region of Ladakh, March 21, 2024 [Reuters] |
Earlier in September, 2025 local activists in Ladakh, led by Sonam Wangchuk, (One of India’s best-known innovators and education reformers) began a hunger strike. It was the latest in a series of peaceful protests they had held in recent years, demanding constitutional protections under what is known as the Sixth Schedule. That statute allows parts of India that are predominantly inhabited by Indigenous s to have autonomous administrative and governance structures. More than 90 percent of Ladakh’s population consists of such s.
With Ladakh under central rule, locals say their concerns about loss of land and livelihood have gone unheard. In Ladakh, a massive energy project is shrouded in mystery. since last year, the Changpas, as the pastoralists are locally known, have been anxious. They fear that their migration routes of cattle will be affected by a sprawling 13-gigawatt integrated renewable energy project slated to come up in Pang, which they fear could lead to their pasturelands being fenced off. The project is expected to generate 9 gigawatts of solar power and 4 gigawatts of wind power. This electricity will be transmitted 713 km from Ladakh to Haryana, where it will be integrated into the national grid. A government firm has been given the responsibility of laying down the transmission lines, but it is not yet clear whether the renewable energy project will be set up by the government or awarded to a private firm. Click here to read more.
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| Wikipedia |
District Judge Ashish Aggarwal of Delhi’s Rohini Courts ruled on September 18 to remove the order that restrained independent journalists Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskant Das, and Ayush Joshi from publishing any material deemed defamatory by Gautam Adani’s AEL. Aggarwal described the original injunction order as “unsustainable”, stating that it denied the journalists an opportunity for a hearing before its introduction on September 6. Delhi HC orders status quo on Adani takedown requests against Ravish Kumar, Newslaundry on 25 September hearing. Justice Sachin Datta recorded the submission of Adani Enterprises that it would not ask Kumar and Newslaundry to take down any more content from their websites or other intermediaries as existing on 12 noon, September 26. Click here to read more.
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| Journalist Rajiv Pratap used to run a digital news channel named 'Delhi Uttarakhand Live'. The death of Rajiv Pratap, a freelance journalist in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district, has raised serious questions about the safety of journalists. Rajiv, who had been missing since the night of September 18th, was recovered ten days later September 28th from the Joshiada Barrage. Rajiv reported on corruption and administrative mismanagement at the local level and ran his own YouTube channel. A special investigation team has been formed to investigate the case and is examining all aspects based on the evidence found.  Journalists challenging the power and revealing the truth face threat as happened with the Chhattisgarh-based freelance journalist Mukesh Chandrakar. It is suspected that Mukesh was murdered on 1 January, 2025for exposing corruption surrounding road contract. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Indian authorities to lose no time in bringing to justice those responsible for the murder of a journalist whose battered body was found in a septic tank in Bijapur, in the east-central state of Chhattisgarh, shortly after he reported on the poor state of a road built by a local contractor, who has been arrested as the main suspect. Click here to read more. |
III. People’s Actions
The 16th Coal Satyagraha was organised on 03 October 2025 in Gram Panchayat Garen of Tamnar Tehsil on the importance of community participation in natural resources and the decisions of the Gram Sabha under the PESA Act. Speakers at the meeting said that the PESA Act was enacted to protect the rights of Adivasi communities, but it is not being properly implemented at the ground level. People in villages affected by coal mining are facing constant displacement, environmental damage and livelihood crisis. In such a situation, considering the Gram Sabha as the supreme decision-making body, the consent of the local community should be mandatory on mining projects and use of natural resources. Click here to read more.
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| Villagers in a sit-in protest demanding van pattas. Source: Mahasabha |
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| Lyngdoh added that the council had asked the ministry to seek an exemption of areas under KHADC from the September 8 order. (Facebook/dcOfficeSwkhMeg) Meghalaya’s Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) on Wednesday asked the Centre to exclude Adivasi areas under its jurisdiction from the operation of a central government order that scrapped the requirement for public hearings before mining “atomic minerals” such as uranium. KHADC chief executive member Winston Tony Lyngdoh said the Council rejects the MoEFCC’s Office Memorandum (OM) dated September 8, 2025 of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s (MoEFCC), which ended the requirement for public hearings in mining projects of atomic, critical and strategic minerals under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023. “This memorandum is an infringement on our age-old customs and traditions and an encroachment on our ancestral land. It exposes our people and environment to grave health and ecological hazards,” Lyngdoh said, concerned that the move could lead to land grabbing and exploitation of Adivasi land without consent. According to the MoEFCC’s Sept 8 order, all mining projects involving atomic minerals notified in Part B and critical and strategic minerals listed in Part D of the First Schedule of the MMDR Amendment Act, 2023, were exempted from mandatory public consultations under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification of August 14, 2006. Click here to read more. Villagers from three affected villages in the Dharamjaigarh District Panchayat area have protested the administration's proposed public hearing on October 25. The villagers say they will not allow the public hearing to take place at any cost. The protest of villagers in Dharamjaigarh area of Raigarh district against the proposed underground coal mine of Adani Group is continuing. The company and the administration claimed that the affected villagers have been convinced to attend the environmental public hearing, but the actual situation appears to be different. Talking to the affected people, it became clear that their protest is continuing, and they have decided to stick to their resolve of cancelling the public hearing. Click here to read more. IV. Videos  Parvati Tirkey: The Sahitya Akademi winner preserving Kurukh culture through poetry | BBC News India --------- |
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