Jharkhand: Adani's Gondalpura coal plan faces local resistance

HAZARIBAG: The Adani Group's commercial coal mining project in Gondalpura Panchayat under Barkagaon block is facing stiff protests from the local residents who do not want to give up land for the project.
Planned for becoming operational by 2024, the coal block, which was allotted to the conglomerate by the Union coal ministry in the first round of auction of commercial coal blocks in 2021, is expected to produce 4 million tonne of coal annually which will be fed to the country's several thermal power units.
Though the Hazaribag administration has notified 513 acres for the project, the company is yet to acquire it. Of the total, nearly 219 acres are forest land and 70 acres are Gair Majurwa. Locals who are against the project live and cultivate in the remaining 224 acres.
The conglomerate has hit a tricky patch in the recent weeks as its efforts to hold three gram sabhas with the locals in order to win them over have failed. Two more gram sabhas, which were held on October 12 and October 17 with the help of the district administration and Nabard, were met with protests from the locals.
The officials also adopted a different strategy and tried to win the trust of the locals through corporate social responsibility initiatives such as health camps, distribution of nutrition supplements and medicines, adopting the health expenses of 50 tuberculosis patients. But so far, their endeavour has not yielded any results.
Hazaribag deputy commissioner Nancy Sahay said: "Three gram sabhas were sanctioned for obtaining consent of the locals but the response was poor. Efforts are underway to clear the hurdles by settling the compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement of the families which will be affected by the project."
Ranjan Mahto, a resident of Gondalpura, said: "Most of the residents here are farmers who grow paddy and vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes and peas throughout the year. If our land is taken away, we will meet the same fate as those of the families who were displaced by the NTPC's coal mining projects in Barkagaon a few years ago (Pakri-Barwadih and Chatti-Bariatu coal projects)."