Chhattisgarh: Probe finds gram sabha that cleared iron ore mine illegal

The state government has asked NCL about the iron ore deposit number 13, for which the gram sabha was held. Deposit number 13 was handed over to Adani Enterprises in 2018 and was the first iron ore mine acquired by Adani as Mine Developer and Operator.

After over 2,000 villagers from Dantewada, Bijapur and Sukma protested against the move, claiming that the mining site was a place of worship and denying that they gave consent, Chief Minister Baghel directed that work be stopped and ordered an inquiry in June 2019.

In an official letter in July 2019, the forest department asked Dantewada collector to enquire about the gram sabha. In the report to the forest department on March 5, 2020, the collector said the gram sabha was declared ab initio void.

The collector submitted that he found that no gram sabha was held on July 4, 2014 as claimed by then panchayat secretary Basant Kumar Nayak. “Only 109 people including the sarpanch were shown to attend the gramsabha out of 806 registered residents of the village, which is against the rule of having at least one-third of the villagers at the sabha,” the report stated.

The report also claimed that out of those shown to have attended the gram sabha, eight attendees had died before July 4, 2014. The report also denied Nayak’s claim that there was an attempt to hold a gram sabha on July 1 before the sabha on July 4. “Based on the statements of the villagers and the sarpanch, it is clear that neither rules were followed, nor were the sabhas held,” the report said.

Based on this report, the upper secretary of Chhattisgarh government’s mining department issued a notice on March 5 to the NCL, asking them to come for a hearing on March 13. “The said mine was supposed to fulfil the iron ore needs of the local businesses in the state. But no production has taken place since 2017, when the mine was handed over to you,” the notice read.

According to sources in the government, after the gram sabha was declared void, the entire process would be marked null and void. “The mining permits will be lapsed since the rules were not followed. The entire process of acquiring iron ore deposit number 13 will have to be restarted,” a senior officer said.

While work at the site was stopped after the villagers’ protest in June 2019, Sanyukt Panchayat Jan Sangharsh Samiti members claim that they have been kept in the dark. “We were told at the time of protests that the enquiry report will be given to us too. However, as of now, no reports have been given to us. We have submitted an application in this matter,” activist Soni Sori said.

The NMDC officials could not be reached for comment.