Citizens unite to save Guguldoh forest, oppose manganese ore mine

Staff Reporter/

Ramtek Correspondent

The environment public hearing for proposed manganese ore mine in Guguldoh forest area witnessed tremendous protest by villagers and tribal people of nearby villages, on Monday. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) conducted the public hearing in Guguldoh village to get the opinion of people about the proposed mine. Hundreds of citizens including villagers, tribals, activists and politicians participated in the public hearing and opposed the mine in Guguldoh forest area. D Mallikarjun Reddy, former BJP MLA, during the hearing said, “There is no need to start a mine in a rich forest area. Guguldoh is a corridor which should be conserved for betterment of the ecosystem of the area.” Jaideep Das, former Honorary Wildlife Warden, Nagpur, said, “Felling of more than 2 lakh trees just for a mine is a bad decision. This forest area is a wildlife corridor and we have video and photo evidence of wildlife movement in the forest.”

Chhattisgarh based Shanti G D Ispat and Power Private Limited has raised the proposal to fell 40,000 trees to establish Manganese ore mine in Guguldoh. The company got green signal from the Maharashtra Forest Department with some conditions and mitigation. Thereafter, the company raised proposal to fell the trees to MPCB and the Board published a public notice for objections on the project. After getting information about the project, environment activists, wildlife lovers and citizens came forward against the project. They conducted a Chipkoo Movement along with the villagers and sensitised the villagers about the project and its ill effect on the forest area. From day one, the villagers are opposing the project and they showed their unity in the public hearing too.

In the beginning, the representative of the company gave a presentation about the project before the villagers. They claimed that the mine will generate jobs for 40 people which will be given to the villagers of the area. However, the villagers straightway rejected the company’s claim stating that why should they lose their forest for just 40 vacancies? The tribal ladies, who also attended the meeting, claimed that this project will encourage villagers to consume liquor and indulge in other bad habits. They also warned that the Government should not allow this company to establish mine in Guguldoh or they will self-immolate on the project site.

Hema Deshpande, Sub Regional Officer, Bhandara, told The Hitavada, “We have gathered the video recording of the public hearing. We will prepare one minute video of the meeting and send it to MPCB Head Office and then the Board will send it to the Department of Environment.” Uday Singh Yadav, former Deputy Chairman, Ramtek Panchayat Samiti; Ramesh Karemore, District Head, Prahar Janshakti Party; Harish Udake, State President, Gondwana Ganatantra Party; Sanjay Jhade of Shiv Sena; Vikendra Mahajan, former MLA; Rajesh Thakre; Rishikesh Kimmatkar; Rahul Kothekar; green activists Anasuya Kale Chhabrani, Sharad Paliwal and many Gram Panchayat Sarpanch, Upasarpanch and activists were present during the public hearing.