Tara coal block auction will devastate Hasdeo forests: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has criticized the government's decision to auction the Tara coal block in Chhattisgarh's Hasdeo-Aranya region. He argues that the project constitutes 'ecocide' and violates previous commitments to protect the biodiversity-rich forest.
Why it matters
The conflict highlights the ongoing tension between industrial development and environmental conservation in India's protected forest regions.
The Congress on Thursday (September 10, 2026) accused the Narendra Modi government of supporting “ecocide” by pushing ahead with the auction of the Tara coal block in Chhattisgarh ’s Hasdeo-Aranya region, despite repeated demands from local communities to protect the region’s dense forests.
“The auction of the block in the biodiversity-rich Hasdeo-Aranya ecosystem would entail the destruction of more than 4,000 acres of dense forest and the clear-felling of more than 10 lakh trees,” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said in a statement.
“The Tara coal block covers an area of about 5,000 acres, of which over 4,000 acres is dense forest,” Mr. Ramesh said, adding, “No amount of compensatory afforestation, a bogus idea to begin with, can ever make up for the wanton destruction of such a huge natural forest area.”
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