By Special Correspondent
Bhopal: A fact-finding committee constituted by the All India Congress Committee was prevented by local police and administrative officials from reaching Beradaha coal block in Singrauli on Wednesday, where large-scale tree felling, land acquisition disputes, pollution and tribal displacement have been alleged. The delegation said it was not permitted to meet affected villagers or gather on-ground information, calling the action a grave violation of democratic rights.
The committee comprised Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jeetu Patwari, Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar, former MP Meenakshi Natrajan, former Leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh, CWC members Kamleshwar Patel and Omkar Markam, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Hemant Katare, former Deputy Speaker Hina Kawre, national president of Adivasi Congress Vikrant Bhuria, and former ministers Jayvardhan Singh and Bala Bachchan, among other senior leaders.
Despite being halted en route, the Congress leaders managed to visit several affected villages in the Singrauli and Deosar region, where they documented worsening environmental degradation, complaints of forcible land acquisition and the severe pollution emanating from coal mines and related industrial operations. Residents of Gajra Bahra village claimed that officials were coercing signatures while falsely presenting them as voluntary consent. They further alleged that pollution from NTPC, Coal India and Adani coal yards had caused a drastic decline in the health of thousands of tribal families.
During an inspection of a local primary school, the delegation reported distressingly poor conditions, with children exposed to hazardous air, inadequate facilities and rising health risks.
Patwari remarked that the government’s policies amounted to “cutting a forest for corporate interests while denying rights to tribal communities”, alleging that over one million trees were being felled for a project spread across nearly 4,000 hectares. He also criticised what he described as restricted civilian access in the so-called “Adani zone”.
Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar accused the Union government of favouring industrialists at the cost of forest conservation and tribal welfare, asserting that environmental norms were being openly flouted. The Congress stated it would raise the issues of environment, public health and tribal rights at the national level with full force.
