Local activists oppose Deocha-Pachami coal mine project, allege displacement of indigenous people

Local activists in West Bengal demand cancellation of coal mining project due to displacement of indigenous people from their lands.

Local activists from West Bengal’s Birbhum district, where mining work started in the Deocha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harisingha (DPDH) coal block on February 6 this year, have demanded the project be cancelled, alleging displacement of thousands of indigenous people from their lands in Mohammed Bazar block.

At a press conference in Kolkata on Friday (February 21, 2025), activists of Deocha Pachami Gramsabha Samyani Hul Committee, Prakriti Bachao and Adivasi Bachao Manch (South Bengal), Birbhum Jeevan Jeevika O Bhumi Raksha Committee, and other organisations called for a complete halt to mining work at DPDH, demanding a pollution-free environment and overall development in the area.

“Around 21,000 people will be displaced by government estimates. Of them, 9,034 are tribals and 3,601 belong to Scheduled Castes. 4,314 houses will also have to be razed,” their statement said.

They also claimed that a total of 11,200 acres would be used for dumping mining waste and other ancillary needs, of which 9,100 acres are owned by tribals who have ancestral houses and agricultural land. 

“It is clear that the indigenous people will be the most affected. By our estimates about 42 to 50 villages will be affected and more than 50,000 people will be displaced. The coal mine will adversely affect the surrounding areas, resulting in people being forced to evacuate themselves from the region to save their lives,” Rajen Tudu, convenor of Prakriti Bachao and Adivasi Bachao Manch (South Bengal) said.

He also alleged that parts of the coal block area are forest land, and said that the DPDH coal mine project is “violating the rights of the tribals to water, forest and land codified in the Forest Rights Act, 2006”. 

“Locals understand that their livelihood and culture will also be endangered if they are permanently uprooted from their lands. Because the tribals live a land-dependent and forest-dependent life, displacement will endanger their nature-centric culture, their religion, and language,” said Sushil Murmu, President of the Deucha Panchami Gram Sabha Samyani Hul Committee.