What is the Hasdeo movement?

In news– Centre for Policy Research (CPR) was recently in news for the suspension of its FCRA registration. Among the ineligible activities listed by the I-T Department is the CPR being involved in the Hasdeo movement.

About the movement-

It is a movement launched by activists against coal mining in the Hasdeo forests of Chhattisgarh.
Hasdeo Aranya is a biodiversity-rich forest which also happens to be a rich source of coal.
For months in 2022, tribals and activists had protested against the operation of three coal mines in the region: the Parsa East Kente Basan (PEKB), Parsa, and Kente extension.

Hasdeo forests-

A sprawling forest in the northern part of Chhattisgarh, Hasdeo Aranya is known for its biodiversity.
The forest falls under Korba, Sujapur and Sarguja districts, with a sizeable tribal population.
The Hasdeo river, a tributary of Mahanadi, flows through it.
It is home to Adivasis from Gond, Lohar, Oraon, and other parts of India, who live on 1,70,000 hectares of land rich in biodiversity.
The Hasdeo forests are also the catchment area for the Hasdeo Bango Dam built across the Hasdeo river which irrigates six lakh acres of land, crucial to a State with paddy as its main crop.
Besides, the forests are ecologically sensitive due to the rich biodiversity they offer and due to the presence of a large migratory corridor for elephants.

Hasdeo represents one of the largest coal reserves in India, having estimated reserves of 5.18 billion tonnes of coal.
There are more than 20 known coal mines on the Hasdeo reserve.
After a joint study in 2010, the Ministry of Coal and the Ministry of Forest and Environment deemed the Hasdeo reserve a ‘No Go Area,’ prohibiting any sort of mining due to its rich biodiversity and exceptional ecology.
In 2021, a report on the region by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, termed Hasdeo Aranya the “largest un-fragmented forests in Central India consisting of pristine Sal (Shorea robusta) and teak forests.”
The Hasdeo Aranya Coal Field (HACF), meanwhile, is spread over nearly 1,880 sqkm and comprises 23 coal blocks.