If everything goes according to the plan, Aditya Birla group will soon commence work on Bunder diamond mine in Chhatrapur district In Madhya Pradesh .
The diamond reserve in bunder mining will not only bring huge revenue to MP government but will also put the state in unique place on the globe with one of the best quality diamond reserve on Asian continent consisting of 364 hectares Forest Land.
The project site, in Chhatarpur district, is only 20 km from the buffer zone of the Panna tiger reserve. If the project is executed, it will damage the wildlife corridor between Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary and the reserve.
In 2019, a company called Essel Mining, of the Aditya Birla Group, won a mining lease for 50 years over a notified area of 364 hectare for the Bunder project. The state stood to receive 41.55% of the revenue in royalties.
The revival of India’s Bunder diamond mine is facing mounting opposition, over plans to axe more than 200,000 trees. Essel say they need to clear 215,000 trees for the mechanized opencast project. Protestors say the figure could be closer to 500,000.
This area is drought-prone, and this forest is a lifeline for people residing in the villages.
In recent days the project has run into resistance, including a big social media campaign with hashtags like #save_buxwaha_forest and #india_stand_with_buxwaha trending among the top 10 topics on Twitter.
Nine years earlier, the Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto had submitted a proposal to operate the mine to the Madhya Pradesh government. It estimated based on a survey that the region had 34.20 million carats of diamond (6.8 tonnes).
The same year, Rio Tinto signed a contract with the state and invested Rs 140 crore. The state forest department issued a clearance for a small-scale project, mainly for an additional survey, and for the company to excavate 475 ha of land.
But in 2014, when Rio Tinto expressed an intention to establish a full mine over 971 ha, the forest department objected. Then the Madhya Pradesh government sent a proposal to the forest advisory committee (FAC), an apex body tasked with adjudicating forest clearance requests. FAC later deferred the clearance.
In 2015, a proposal that Rio Tinto drafted said the project site in Chhatarpur is home to many leopards, chinkara and peacocks, and is frequented by tigers as well.
