Villagers in Mahan forest protest marking of trees

BHOPAL: Members of Mahan Sangharsh Samiti (MSS), fighting against the operation of Mahan coal block, registered their protest against the alleged illegal numbering of trees in the forests of Mahan in Singrauli district.
They submitted a memorandum at a public hearing at the district collector’s office in Waidhan calling the process a blatant violation of their rights.The petition chronicles the details of what transpired in Mahan forest on the morning of August 27, 2013.
Officials of forest department and Mahan Coal Ltd had started numbering the trees in the forest. When villagers of Amelia and Budher came to know about it, about 400 of them gathered in the forest to stop tree numbering. The Tehsildar asked them to list their mahua trees, according to which they would be compensated.
When the villagers refused, the Tehsildar told them that the villagers did not have any rights on the forest and that the forest was a property of the forest department and the government of India. There is no way in which they could stop the proposed coal mine by Mahan Coal Ltd.
“As per the provisions of the Forest Rights Act passed in 2006, communities that have been dependent on the forest for several generations can assert their rights on the forest and its produce. Then how can the Tehsildar say such a thing?” demands Ramnath Yadav, resident of Amelia and member of MSS.
“The authorities should first ensure free and fair implementation of the Forest Rights Act and then they can talk about any other activity in the forest,” he added.
“If we do not have any right on the forest, then there is no question of marking the trees and giving us compensation,” points out Kanti Singh Khairwar, another resident of Amelia and member of MSS.
Mahan Sangharsh Samiti has already begun the procedure for filing community forest rights claims. On June 25, Akshay Gupta, member of MSS filed an RTI with the tribal development office of Singrauli district to get complete information about the forest rights committee set at the village level, but has received no response as of now. The forest rights committee plays a vital role in implementing FRA.
This approval came with 36 conditions, which require a range of studies to be completed and the processes under the Forest Rights Act to be complied with.