Maharashtra halts iron mining project near tiger corridor close to Tadoba reserve

After weeks of protests and hunger strikes by activists and concerned local residents, the Maharashtra government temporarily halted further action on the Lohardongri iron ore mining project in the Bramhapuri forest division of Chandrapur district, which had ecologists and environmentalists in a bind for months.

Nagpur-based Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Ltd was allotted almost 36 hectares of forested land under the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015. News reports suggest that an estimated 18,000 trees would be felled to make way for the project.

While Mongabay-India couldn’t access the documents to verify the number of trees to be felled, a 2022 tree enumeration survey report available publicly points to over 11,773 trees to be cut and experts suggest that more trees have likely been added to this number in the last few years.

What truly concerns residents is the environmental cost of the project, including a potential rise in negative interactions with tigers.

Rising tiger interactions

Chandrapur district of Maharashtra is the epicentre of rising human–tiger interactions, often resulting in fatalities. Mongabay-India visited the conflict areas in late 2024 to report on this, and found that a staggering 111 human deaths from tiger attacks were reported in 2022-2023, with 59 deaths already recorded in 2023-2024. The latest official numbers are awaited.

Strict conservation measures at one of the...

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