'Is There No Iron Left In the World That We’re Now Mining a Tiger Corridor?'
How one man is trying to start a movement against Maharashtra govt's approval of a mining project in Chandrapur.
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“Is no iron left anywhere else in the world that we now have to blast and destroy a very crucial tiger corridor?” asked Bandu Dhotre, a prominent environmentalist from Chandrapur, Maharashtra.
For the past month, Dhotre has been mobilising support for a peaceful movement against the Maharashtra government’s approval of a mining project in the Brahmapuri division—a tiger corridor that acts as a buffer zone to the Tadoba–Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra’s largest national park.
A proposed iron ore mining project in Chandrapur was cleared by the Devendra Fadnavis-chaired State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) despite objections from its own expert committee. The project is planned inside 35.95 hectares of reserved forest in the Brahmapuri division, which directly connects to the Tadoba–Andhari Tiger Reserve—home to a dense tiger population.
What shook Dhotre was that the environmental clearance for the project came from the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) despite its own committee having recommended against conducting any mining activities in the corridor in a strongly worded report. A former member of the SBWL himself, Dhotre said he had never seen an approval granted in this manner.
“We are not agitating; we are trying to stir conscience. This is a plea from desperate children to the protectors of their motherland,” said Dhotre, who also runs his own Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).
In this interview, Dhotre explains in detail how mining in the region would destroy its ecology, lead to increased human–animal conflict, and calls for support against the project.
How do you look at the approval granted to a projecyt like this in a crucial tiger corridor of Maharashtra?
Chandrapur district is known for its tigers, being home to more than 250 tigers. Now, it is gaining a new identity – that of the growing conflict between humans and animals. Last year, in 2025, nearly 47 people were killed in tiger attacks. These are figures for the Charndrapur region. But the Brahmapuri Forest Division we are talking about is where the conflict is most intense. The Brahmapuri Forest Division encompasses 650 villages, and the forests are fragmented. The Tadoba corridors, they pass through the Brahmapuri Division, connecting the forests of Gadchiroli-Versa, Umred and Navegaon-Nagzira regions, which are tiger-bearing areas that serve as corridors.
Now, there is a proposed project for iron ore mining near the Lohar Dongri village in the Tadodi Range of Brahmapuri. Wildlife clearance is required for mining in this area because it is located between corridors. A committee was formed to examine the region and the report provides all the facts about how many tigers are in this area, which species coexist with them, and the status of the forest area. The report also mentions that 18,024 trees will be cut down.
Moreover, we have previously seen the example of the Ghosikhurd irrigation project, where the water canal caused the forests of Chandrapur and Brahmapuri to be split into two parts. The corridors of Gadchiroli and Navegaon-Nagzira separated, leading to a disruption in the natural migration of tigers. This resulted in the most intense conflict occurring in the Brahmapuri Division.
Now, if mining takes place in this area, aside from the 36 hectares of forest that they have demanded, other activities like road construction and transportation will also be required, leading to the pollution of streams and water drainage. When explosives are used in these corridors, the corridors will be destroyed, and safe paths for tigers will also disappear, which will increase the conflict. This is also mentioned in the report.
We saw the lockdown during the COVID-19 period, but whenever there is a tiger conflict here, it creates a lockdown-like situation in the surrounding 10-15 villages. Children cannot go to school, farming activities are disrupted, and those who go out for work cannot travel because of the danger in the areas surrounding the forest.
Can you explain the nature of the impact of mining in a region like this?
We are talking about tiger conservation, but the most important aspect of tiger conservation is the preservation of its corridors. If we engage in mining or any other development activity in the corridors, it will disturb the corridor, preventing tigers from moving from one forest to another. Tigers begin to settle in limited areas for habitation, and if they adjust to one area, the number of tigers in that area increase. There are tigers in various regions over here including a man-made forest near the thermal power plant.
This is dangerous, because once the younger tigers and cubs grow up, they will seek their own territories. As a result, they will enter farmlands where they will get cattle easily, and conflict will arise. Brahmapuri division acts like a buffer zone for Tadoba. There are 92 villages in this buffer zone. But the Brahmapuri division is a scattered forest and there are 650 villages in the Brahmapuri division. There are 350 villages either in the forest area or bordering the forest area. The tigers in this tach rely on the cattle.
At least 18 people were killed in tiger-related conflicts in the Brahmapuri division last year, with 10 tigers having to be captured and removed. Consider this ratio—18 human deaths and 10 tigers taken into captivity. We gotta stop this conflict but instead we are proposing mining activities there. The report clearly states that there will be irreversible damage if any mining activity is conducted. Despite that, the SBWL's approval of this project is now being sent to the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL).
How have existing irrigation projects and infrastructural developments impacted the tiger corridors of the region over the years?
The right canal of the Ghosi-Khurd dam project passes through Chandrapur. As a result, the corridors going to the east and the north, connecting Gadchiroli-Valsa division, and Navegaon-Nagjira division, have already been broken. Then, the single railway is now being turned into a double line. We have seen so many accidents of tigers in train accidents, that PIL is also pending. Another issue is of roads. We have protested for this and also filed petitions that the roads in and around Tadoba need underpasses and overpasses, but there is no action taken on that front either. Nobody is opposed to development. Mining activities should strictly not be done, but other development activities should be conducted with proper mitigation. If such activities are conducted without mitigation, the tiger corridors will keep getting destroyed and the tiger-human conflicts will only rise.
How will a prjoect like this impact the villages? How many villages were consulted before this project was approved?
There is no clarity on how many villages were consulted before this approval was given. There was a public hearing that took place in Lohardongri village, but it is unlikely that most villages that are bound to get affected knew about it extensively.
Any mining that happens, will happen in the upper regions of the hills. As a result, the streams below that take water to the villages will get polluted. So, an iron-ore-polluted water stream, wildlife conflicts, casttes, humans, there will just be more problems for everybody.
The environmentalists and experts can tell all these things. But those who come to pitch such projects, they tell the villages that there will be 'development' and employment. They try to lure villages with promises like these but how many of such promises are fulfilled in reality?
The SBWL report clearly states that 120 jobs will be created here, and out of those, only 32 will be permanent. Now, let me tell you that the 32 permanent jobs mentioned are for skilled workers. If skilled workers are rarely available from the village, then certainly, the small tasks on a contractor basis will only be done by those people. But with so few jobs, the damage we will cause to our nature and environment, along with increasing human-animal conflict, will create problems in the surrounding hundreds of villages, which will definitely be serious. Later, theer will be no point of the villagers relising their mistake.
If we talk about public hearings, it seems that the local people might not have enough information, but gradually, awareness is growing among them. People are now communicating with nearby villages, and during discussions, it's coming up in these discuassions as to what is happening in the neighbouring Gadchiroli district. As people get more information, they will certainly protest against it.
On the other hand, deforestation is happening for mining in tiger breeding areas. These are two separate serious issues. Forests are a common resource everywhere, and saving forests is the first priority. But in the name of employment, we are creating new problems there. Agricultural issues, pollution, and the impact on everyday life will arise. We are dying every day. Perhaps we need to think deeply about this.
This report also mentions that 30 hectares of land related to the forest area will be handed over to the forest department from Yavatmal.
Any project like this comes with clauses of mandatory compensatory afforestation (CA), just the way mangroves were cut in Mumbai and in return, they gave more forests in Chandrapur. But when you cut mangroves, do you understand that they act as a shield (in Mumbai)? If we cut them in Mumbai and plat a forest in Chandrapur, how will that work? We need to understand that forests grow slowly; it's not an overnight process. Should we not understand what the survival rate of plantations is? Everything looks fine on paper, but in reality, it is not.
The forests we are cutting here are tiger habitats, and they are part of a tiger corridor. This corridor is so important that it must be saved under any circumstances.
When we talk about tiger corridors, you have yourself been a member of the state wildlife board. The wildlife committee's report clearly mentioned that the committee created a report against this project, yet the board approved it, is that not unusual?
This never happens. Many projects have been stopped in the past. I don't understand why, despite such a clear report, this issue was not discussed in the meeting. It seems that there was no in-depth discussion in SBWL on this, and if there had been, it would have made sense. If there had been a discussion, the decision might have been different because the board members are sensitive. This is a separate matter, but the report is very important. Many important issues are raised in the report, and facts are presented clearly. If there had been a proper discussion on these facts, no one would have moved this proposal forward.
The minerals are no so depleted from the earth that we now have to resort to mining in such crucial areas. This is an area where people are already dying and living in an atmosphere of fear. We need policies for this, and the government should think about where we can carry out development activities. We are a developing country, and when we talk about development, we need to ensure that it is done from an ideal perspective. So, we need to think about where we will go, where we will mine, and where we won't. Our government, who we consider our guardians, should think about this because there are some tribal people and animals living there too. They also have rights, and we need to protect their habitats. When we talk about protecting them, conservation of corridors natuarlly needs to be prioritised.
You are trying to raise your voice against this projects. You have started an online petition. There are letters being written to the PMO and the environment ministry. How do you plan to take the movement forward?
Whatever points we are raising, it is not our imagination. We are speaking based on the report. 47 people have died here, this is on record. In the Brahmapuri division, where mining is happening, 18 people have died, and this is also on record. The human-animal conflict has increased, and we have caught 10 tigers, which is also on record. The report also says that this area is a habitat for over 60 tigers, and there will be irreversible damage. The report clearly states that mining should not happen here. We are merele taking this report to the people. This is not an agitation or movement, but we are spreading awareness that we don't want development based on this, which harms our tribals, villages, and farmers.
Our farmers are dying every day. Our farmers rely on natural rains for their crops. They are not able to grow crops for the rest of the year. But even that crop is in danger now due to wild boars and other animals. In such conditions, they are still farming in villages that border the forest areas. The families constantly worry that is a farmer goes to the fields, whether he will return home. They are working under such circumstances and contribyting to the country's GDP. Our priority need to be to save farmers like these and also the animals. They need to work towards reducing conflict.
When Indira Gandi returned from Stockholme in 1971, there were issues like these raised in a conference for women in environment. Nothing has changed since, in fact things have worsened. What cost are we ready to pay in the name of 'vikas?' Does that vikas not include the farmers who will suffer? The tribals of the region? The animal, which is on the verge of extinction, is that animal not a part of that vikas? The region has been a ray of hope for saving the tigers.
We talk about power generation in Chandrapur district, which generates 25% of Maharashtra's power. The electricity generated in Chandrapur is lighting up cities like Mumabi and Pune, but what are we getting in return? We are just dying her due to pollution, respiratory issues, skin diseases, lung diseases. We were a region of forests but now we are a region of industrialisation, heavy pollutants, and the gighest temperatures in the world for at least 4-5 days every year. Now, along with most number of tigers, we are also a region of most cases of tiger conflicts. So, what is the cost that we are paying for development? Are tigers, forests, and minerals a boon or a curse for us? When we talk of development, who do we want it for, and what cost?