Forests are the lungs of our planet, but we often destroy them for our greed. And one such event is taking place in the region of Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh. The Bunder Diamond Mine in the Buxwaha forest in Chhatarpur has estimated reserves of millions of diamonds. Almost an entire forest will be eradicated to extract the diamonds at Buxwaha in Madhya Pradesh. It is a government project and it involves a 50-year duration of mining lease. The Buxwaha forest diamond mining is the single largest division of natural resources in India under the new auction rule, after coal.

At the Buxwaha forest, our country’s largest diamond reserve has been found, however, they are estimated to be buried in the forest land. The Asia Pacific Network of Environment Defenders claims that around 382.131 hectares of forest will be eradicated to extract the diamonds of 342 million carats from the land. The forest department at Chhatarpur has counted the trees of the forest which is 2,15,875. And all these trees will be axed completely. Among these trees, around 40,000 trees are of teak, besides there are medicinal trees like Kame, Tendu, Jamun, Bahera, Arjuna, and many more.

Cutting all those trees down will cause massive damage to the local ecosystem. And in the same way, there will be a huge crisis on the regional wildlife as well.  A new report of this forest does not show any type of wildlife in this region. In December 2020, a report by the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Chhatarpur has also claimed that there is no protected wildlife habitat in the Buxwaha region. However, all the important trees in the region are still going to be demolished if the Bunder Mining Project starts.

The government of Madhya Pradesh is due to get the latest royalty of 41.55% from the Bunder Diamond Mine, which will amount to Rs 23,000 crore out of the Rs 55,000 crore project. Presently, the largest diamond store in India is in the Panna district of Madhya Pradesh, and there are a total of 22 lakh carrot diamonds on the ground there. Out of these, only 13 lakh carat diamonds have been extracted.

The Bunder Diamond Mine was initially developed by Anglo-Australian multinational mining company, Rio Tinto, which had halted this mining project. This company ran the mine from 2007 to 2010, and it was handed over by the former state government led by Bhartiya Janata Party in 2007. There were many protests by the locals accusing the Rio Tinto Company of destroying the forest. However, Rio Tinto left the mining after a split with the state government in 2010, and accordingly, the mine was shut. In 2018, when the Congress party was elected to power in MP, they started the process of auctioning the mine to earn revenue from it. And eventually, some bids were invited for this diamond mine.

Only five companies, Essel Mining of the Birla Group, National Mining Development Corporation, Chendipada Kolari of Adani Group, Rungta Mine Ltd, and Vedanta Group, revealed interest in the Bunder Diamond Mine, however, only Adani and Birla managed to enter the last lap of the online bidding process. In the end, the Essel Mining of the Birla Group won the bid for India’s biggest diamond exploration and mining unit. and now, when forest cutting is permitted by the government, numerous people across the country are raising their voices against this. Many people know that if we cut down this forest, the plants and other wildlife living in the forest will be destroyed, and as we know, it takes nature countless years to flourish that part again.

We as humans, need these forests to produce oxygen and clean the atmosphere to help us breathe. We also know that the earth’s climate can be massively affected by this. And to do something about the deforestation of Buxwaha, 50 institutions from all over India during May, have worked a webinar and discussed plans to stop this massacre of a forest. There are reports, that a large number of people are coming together to stop the cutting down of forest at Buxwaha. Meanwhile, a citizen of Delhi has filed a petition in the apex court, and the apex court has cleared to hear it. A member of the Rashtriya Jungle Bachao Abhiyan has claimed that many individuals are associated with this cause to save the Buxwaha forest, and it will go swiftly once the COVID-19 restrictions are declined. People are also supporting this cause under the ‘Save Buxwaha Forest’ and ‘Stop Buxwaha Forest Killing’ movement on different social media platforms.
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Reference:

• www.mineralresources.mp.gov.in
• www.apned.net
• www.fsrn.org
• www.environmentclearance.nic.in