One step up and ten steps back
India plans to fell ancient forest to create 40 new coalfields
Narendra Modi’s dream of a ‘self-reliant India’ comes at a terrible price for its indigenous population
Over the past decade, Umeshwar Singh Amra has witnessed his homeland descend into a battleground. The war being waged in Hasdeo Arand, a rich and biodiverse Indian forest, has pitted indigenous people, ancient trees, elephants and sloths against the might of bulldozers, trucks and hydraulic jacks, fighting with a single purpose: the extraction of coal.
Yet under a new “self-reliant India” plan by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to boost the economy post-Covid-19 and reduce costly imports, 40 new coalfields in some of India’s most ecologically sensitive forests are to be opened up for commercial mining.
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And, nearby: Mauritius declares environmental emergency after oil spill
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency” after a Japanese-owned ship that ran aground offshore days ago began spilling tons of fuel.
The prime minister, Pravind Jugnauth, made the announcement late on Friday as satellite images showed a dark slick spreading in the turquoise waters near environmental areas that the government called “very sensitive”.
Narendra Modi’s dream of a ‘self-reliant India’ comes at a terrible price for its indigenous population
Over the past decade, Umeshwar Singh Amra has witnessed his homeland descend into a battleground. The war being waged in Hasdeo Arand, a rich and biodiverse Indian forest, has pitted indigenous people, ancient trees, elephants and sloths against the might of bulldozers, trucks and hydraulic jacks, fighting with a single purpose: the extraction of coal.
Yet under a new “self-reliant India” plan by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to boost the economy post-Covid-19 and reduce costly imports, 40 new coalfields in some of India’s most ecologically sensitive forests are to be opened up for commercial mining.
Continue reading...
And, nearby: Mauritius declares environmental emergency after oil spill
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency” after a Japanese-owned ship that ran aground offshore days ago began spilling tons of fuel.
The prime minister, Pravind Jugnauth, made the announcement late on Friday as satellite images showed a dark slick spreading in the turquoise waters near environmental areas that the government called “very sensitive”.