Thread by @ForestRightsAct

The @newsclickin report points at the arbitrary processes by the #MP government in pushing Aditya Birla Group's #diamondmining project in the dense forests of Buxwaha which has the potential to severely devastate the entire landscape. 1/n

A short thread
newsclick.in/Why-Madhya-Pra…

"An expert body under the #MoEF & CC has questioned the #MadhyaPradesh government for proposing to clear forestland for the project without considering the potential impact on water availability in the drought-prone region."
An excerpt from the report, 2/n

"The project involves diversion of the course of a stream and creation of a water body, which may adversely affect the watershed and the flow of water downstream, thereby affecting the biodiversity as well as the effectiveness of the Ken-Betwa link project." The river-link... 3/n

project is itself questionable for its widescale impact on ecology of the whole region. As the debate was taking place, the MP government has "sent a proposal to the Central government seeking prior approval to clear 382.131 hectares of forestland for #diamondmining project." 4/n

"The project involves chopping down roughly 2.16 lakh trees, was thereafter also recommended for clearance by the regional office of the MoEF&CC in Bhopal, MP, in July 2021... the project will also use more than 200 hectares of forestland for dumping mining generated waste." 5/n

"Experts believe that diverting a large chunk of forestland, as envisaged for the #diamondmining project, would severely deplete groundwater levels in the region besides affecting rainfall patterns."
Interesting to note, the bid had been floated by the short-lived Congress. 6/n

government in MP. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body engaged in the conservation of the tiger has stated clearly about its views which doubts the project in its entirety, also being wary of the Ken-Betwa linking project. 7/n