During the week of March 15, lakhs of students and youth across continents went on a climate strike, demanding for urgent climate action from all the national governments around the world. [1] India is a signatory to the historic Paris Agreement, an international treaty to combat climate change and limit rise in global temperatures through Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Special Report has sounded an undeniable warning call to nations to collectively limit the rise in global average temperatures to well under 1.5°C. [2] - India’s INDC has yet not fulfilled the commitment of renewable energy generation. - Thermal power plant companies missed the 2017 deadline to reduce emissions (now extended to 2022), - The government has now commissioned more plants resulting in a 1.4% parallel rise in emissions - Funds from the National Clean Energy Fund was improperly diverted making them unavailable for clean energy initiatives. -The INDC also aims to create an additional carbon sink by increasing forest and tree cover by 2030 yet the decades-old national target of 33% forest cover has not been met under successive forest related policies. - Hasdeo Arand is one of the largest, continuous stretches of very dense forest in Central India. Once declared a no-go area, has now been given environmental clearance to expand the coal mining.[5] Air pollution and climate change are fundamentally inter-linked! There is an immediate need for India to phase out fossil fuels through an efficient exit strategy and supply all energy demands through renewable energy. It is hereby demanded that a National Climate Emergency be declared to bring climate justice to the forefront of national policy agenda. This can be done through strict implementation of India’s international and national obligations under the Paris Agreement to attain the IPCC goals. Join the global movement for climate justice. Let’s act now before it is too late to save our planet. References: https://fridaysforfuture.org/ https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/ https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-commissions-more-thermal-power-plants-despite-pollution-concerns/story-SLb6uQTD2q3KnR3XLbwoPJ.html http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=128403 https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/centre-s-nod-for-mining-in-170khectares-of-forest/story-F60Pb7W8ybegHntaQ9YBwK.html

The Union environment ministry has given environmental clearance for open cast coal mining in Parsa in Chhattisgarh’s dense Hasdeo Arand forests span more than 1,70,000 hectares, total forest land which would be diverted for the various coal mines. This is one of the very few pristine natural forests in the country which cannot be replicated through plantation forestation. The coalfield covers a total area of 1878 sq km. of which 1502 sq km. has forest cover. Around 80% of this is covered by good quality forest (approximately 1176 sq km has a canopy cover of over 40% while an additional 116 sq km has a canopy cover of over 70%) Parsa Open Cast Mine, a unit of The Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd(RVUNL) under Adani group is going forward to clear this dense forest for purpose of coal mining impacting several villages and wiping out the densest forests in Central India. In 2009, the entire area was termed as a “No-Go Area” or mining because of its rich forest cover(1) by Ministry of Environment and Forest(MOEF). The current order is in direct violation of the MOEF’s own report to cut through these dense forests. This decision could have far-reaching consequences for forest cover conservation in India. The repercussions of these decisions are being borne by the tribal and non-tribal people residing in and around the Hasdeo Arand. Since January 2018, there have been several incidents of human-elephant conflict in the region, which has resulted in both death and the destruction of property. If these proposals are granted, the conflict will only increase(1). Minutes of the forest advisory committee’s meeting highlighted that a section of the 841 hectares to be diverted for the mine lies in very dense forest(1). There is no mention whether the consent from gram sabhas was taken for the project(3) or on the impact to the communities in the area. RVUNL mentioned they do not have forest clearance(3). Apart from pending legal issues and procedural lapses, the grant of approval completely goes against the precautionary principle that is the need of the hour. Initiating mining will fragment one of the last remaining contiguous forest patches in central India, violate forest rights and increase human-wildlife conflict. Let us stop the government from destroying the Lungs of Central India. Sources: 1. https://thewire.in/rights/chhattisgarh-coal-mining-hasdeo-arand 2. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/adani-closer-to-mining-in-green-zone-in-chhattisgarh/story-uVIKz0aK8Lk8NH7C09x4bI.html 3. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/centre-s-nod-for-mining-in-170khectares-of-forest/story-F60Pb7W8ybegHntaQ9YBwK.html 4.https://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/issues/environment/1012/elephant-in-the-room/