Saranda forest is known as mountainous region of India, with a total size of over 82,000 hectares [1]. Although it is naturally one of the most species-rich and the world largest Sal tree (Shorea Robusta) forest, the Indian Government has leased around 10,000 ha of Saranda's forests for various mining companies [8]. Particular attention has been given to the fact that the forest has an important corridor for elephants, for whom this forest is also one of the most preferred places for residence [5]. Saranda is also one of the richest repositories of iron ore and manganese [8].  Already between years 1951 and 1991 more than 34% of the land in Jharkhand was acquired for mining projects [3]. The Union Ministry of Steel has set a target to mine 50 million tonnes of iron ore by 2025, as a result, mining operations are expanded at the expense of forest land. At the beginning of 2012, SAIL (Center India Ltd Steel Authority) got permission to extend lease contracts for the extraction of iron ore at 275 hectares in Saranda (already 19 new projects were in the queue) [2]. In addition, in 2013 SAIL announced to the MoEF (the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests) that it intends to expand its mining operations by another 351 ha, taking the total expansion to 636 ha [4]. By 2014, about 40 mining companies had been operating in Saranda's forests, and about 2,500 hectares had been mined. This caused considerable damage to the Sal forest. For example, nearly 7,200 ha of forest were destroyed which damaged the important corridor for elephants, destroyed the habitat of many wild animals and necessary forest for Adivasi tribals [8]. To protect the elephant migration corridors, the EPA recommended declaring corridors as community reserves, which would be run by locals and wildlife experts [9]. In 2015, the State Forest Department decided to create four new corridors for elephants so that animals do not penetrate human habitats during migration [6]. The loss of forest cover, the blasting of mines and the frequent movement of heavy equipment forces the elephants to migrate to new potential habitats [10]. In 2014, probably most elephants of Saranda forest were emigrated, according to the Adivasis, only about 150 elephants of the 600th were left [8]. There are 56 villages in Saranda, the lives of villagers (about 36000 tribal) depend on the state of the forest and water. However, villagers opportunity for clean water consumption are limited, because of 12 major mines (ArcelorMittal, Jindal Steel & Power Limited, etc.), river water has been extremely polluted, containing large amounts of iron and other mining residues [7]. As the Koina River has become polluted and extensively silted, the situation forces elephants to migrate to neighboring villages, causing conflicts that have been fatal to many people [11]. Although, the local people have organized several protests over the years to prevent large-scale mining operations, the actions have not yet brought any results, however, the ''war'' against Saranda's mining operations continues [1].

Location

West Singhbhum, Jharkhand, India

https://www.google.ee/maps/place/West+Singhbhum,+Jharkhand,+India/@22.6472544,84.8974489,9z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x3a1e2771cc8102f1:0x94a36a51ea837b8e!8m2!3d22.3650858!4d85.4375574?hl=et

Environmental impact

• Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Land degradation (e.g. drought, soil contamination, erosion and desertification)
• Biodiversity loss – Ecosystem destruction
• Depletion of natural resources (fossil and mineral, forest, water, etc)
• Waste, waste disposal, and toxicants

Ethical/ legal issues

• Life and personal security
• Health and well-being
• A clean and prosperous environment and a safe and pleasant habitat
• Indigenous land, culture and rituals

Information sources & materials

Contributor(s)

Pille-Riin Meltsas, pilleriin.meltsas@hotmail.com , MSc student of Estonian University of Life Sciences

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