Tara coal block auction in Chhattisgarh draws stiff opposition from Hasdeo communities
The Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan has opposed the auction of the Tara coal block, saying the Hasdeo forests are not an expendable coal reserve.
Opposition is mounting in Chhattisgarh over the proposed auction of the Tara coal block, with the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan (CBA) leading the pushback against the move.
The CBA has argued that the people of Hasdeo have protected the region's forests across generations, and that these woodlands cannot be treated as an expendable coal reserve. The group has described the auction of Tara as a grave step backwards — both for Chhattisgarh and for India's environmental governance.
At the centre of the dispute is the Hasdeo forest landscape, which the CBA says has been conserved by local communities over a long period. The organisation contends that opening the Tara block to auction runs counter to that legacy of protection.
The CBA's position frames the auction not merely as a local land-use question but as a test of the country's environmental governance. It has called for the Tara block to be treated as a forest to be safeguarded rather than a resource to be mined.
The opposition reflects a broader debate over coal extraction in forested regions of Chhattisgarh, where community claims and conservation concerns frequently intersect with energy and development priorities.