Madhya Pradesh residents up in arm against diamond mine project

The project's execution entails felling over two lakh trees in thick Buxwaha forests in Chhatarpur district of the water-scarce Bundelkhand region

Billed as the site of Asia’s one of the richest diamond reserves, the Bunder diamond mine project is facing stiff resistance from local residents and nationwide environmental enthusiasts as its execution entails felling over two lakh trees in thick Buxwaha forests in Chhatarpur district of the water-scarce Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, about 225 kilometres northeast of Bhopal.

In 2019, Essel Mining & Industries Limited (EMIL), an Aditya Birla Group Company, won the bid for the project that was tendered by the then Kamal Nath government. The incumbent Shivraj Singh government has retained the project, though it is yet to get environment clearance from the union environment and forest ministry. Local leaders of Congress and BJP have also joined hands with the protectors.

Sunil Agarwal, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Land Management, Forest Department, says that the proposal has been sent to the Centre but is yet to be cleared.

The EMIL plans to develop a fully mechanised opencast mine and state of the art processing plant for recovery of diamonds with an investment of about Rs. 2500 crore. The company claims that the project, once operational, has the potential to become one of the largest diamond mines in Asia. It envisages the execution of the mining lease by the end of the financial year 2022.

It is estimated that the Bunder diamond block in Chhatarpur district has about 34 million carats of rough diamonds, 15 times more .than the world-famous diamond mines in the neighbouring Panna district, which are estimated to have 22 lakh carrots of the precious ore. The National Mineral Development Corporation’s (NMDC) existing diamond mine is about 175 kilometres from Bunder.

While the state government has identified 62.64 hectare land for mining for 50 years, the company is demanding 383 hectare to dump the debris from mining in the identified land. The proposed project will be spread across an area of 364 hectares in the Buxwaha forests which is a part of the roughly 3,000 hectare Buxwaha protected forests.

Before the EMIL began initial prospecting, local residents have mounted massive resistance. Besides, over 1.25 lakh people from across the country have come forward to save 2.15 trees to be cut for the Buxwah diamond project. However, in view of Covid-19, the protest campaign is largely confined to social media for now.

“As soon as the corona infection is controlled, the volunteers of the 'Save Buxwaha' campaign will reach the project site and, if necessary, they will stick to the trees," said. Dr. Dharmendra Kumar, a leading activist in the campaign. On May 9, over 50 institutions across the country got together through a webinar and chalked out a strategy against cutting the trees under the project.

A Delhi –based social worker Neha Singh filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme court on April 9, seeking stay on the project on the grounds that it will cause incalculable damage to the Bundelkhand’s rich biodiversity apart from snatching livelihood of thousands of poor tribals who subsist on the minor forest produce. The PIL pointed out that the project site is already a water-stressed region.

According to the pre-feasibility report of the project, the water requirement of the project is estimated at about 5.9 million cubic meters per day. “To meet this requirement a seasonal nallah will be diverted by constructing a dam. The water storage in the reservoir is estimated at around 17 MCM (million cubic metre),” the report said.

Admitting the petition on June 2, the Apex court fixed July 1 as the next hearing date for the matter. Neha Singh had also reached Bhopal to file a petition in the national green tribunal (NGT) but, due to the lockdown, could not do so.

Karuna Raghuvanshi of Bhopal, who is associated with the Rashtriya Jungle Bachao Abhiyan, said that people from many states will intensify the save Buxwaha campaign as soon as the Covid-19 is over.

“The Forest clearance report shows that the project would cost over 200,000 trees and also use a lot of water. We are against the environmental destruction in our area, which is already a water distress area,” says Sankalp Jain, a local youth.

Before the Birla group’s company was handed over the project, the Madhya Pradesh government had granted a prospecting licence to Rio Tinto Exploration India Private Limited (RTEIPL), an Australian mining giant, to explore diamond mining in the Buxwaha region in 2006. But the project faced strong opposition over ecological concerns. Later, the RTEIPL exited the project after submitting a prospecting report to the Madhya Pradesh government in 2017.

Although Rio Tinto did not specify a clear reason for the exit, a team of researchers analysed the reasons in a study which was published in May 2021.

“Rio might have left because the diamond business was falling around the world and are predicted to fall further as more diamonds are mined in African countries and Russia. To them, the money invested so far is simply not worth the trouble bad press would bring,” said Kuntala Lahiri Dutt, one of the authors of the study and Professor in the Resource, Environment and Development (RE&D) programme in the Crawford School of Public Policy in Canberra-based Australian National University.

In India, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are the three states that produce diamonds. Among them, Madhya Pradesh accounts for about 90 per cent of the total diamond resource of the country.

Production of diamond (in India) was at 38,437 carats in 2018-19 as against 39,699 carats in the previous year in India. The total world production of diamond was 149.8 million carats in 2018,” said a report by the Indian Bureau of Mines. The state-run NMDC has been trying to expand its operations to increase production.

Aniket Dikhit, a resident of the Kasera village, which is one of the closest villages to the mining site, said: “Our villagers are dependent on minor forest produce and water for farming. The project involves the diversion of a nullah which is a lifeline for the area.”

The tree species found in the area are khair (Acacia Catechu), bel (Aegle Marmelos), dhava (Anogeissus latifolia), seja (Lagerstroemia Parviflora), ghoat (Randia dumetorum), renjha (Acacia leucophloea), Amltas (Cassia Fistula) and saugon (Tectona Grandis).

The area also has a fairly good variety of fauna, including seven species listed in Schedule I of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. These are Indian Gazelle, Chowsingha, Sloth Bear, Leopard, Monitor Lizard, Indian Rumped Vulture and Peacock.

The Ken-Betwa River Interlinking project in the Bundelkhand region has threatened 23 lakh (2.3 million) trees and 1.9 lakh (190,000) trees have already been cut down for the Bundelkhand Expressway Highway.