The War No One Sees: Climate Change in Bastar’s Hinterlands

Mining is gradually changing the microclimate of the region through deforestation, writes Deepanwita Gita Niyogi.

Chhattisgarh’s natural assets, coupled with its abundant water resources with major rivers like the Mahanadi and the Indravati, have long sustained the insurgency and provided crucial cover for Maoist hideouts. However, in recent times, climate change is making its impact felt in more ways than one.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

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For the past few years, 38-year-old social worker Manoj Lama has been associated with a non-profit organisation in Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh. This year, he says, he noticed visible changes in the environment around him.

“In the summer months, when I visited Abujhmad, the heat was unbearable, and a few streams had also dried up," Lama tells The Quint.

Abujhmad is a vast, forested region spanning approximately 4,000 sq km, covering the Narayanpur, Bijapur, and Dantewada districts of Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, as well as parts of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra.

Long isolated due to its dense jungles and hilly terrain, it is considered to be the Maoist headquarters.

A view of the Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh.

(Photo: Deepanwita Gita Niyogi) 

Chhattisgarh's extensive forest cover—nearly 45 percent of its land—and abundant water resources with major rivers like the Mahanadi and the Indravati, have long sustained the insurgency by providing crucial cover for Maoist hideouts. However, in recent times, climate change is making its impact felt in more ways than one.

Mining Spreads its Tentacles

Mining and climate change are interlinked. Energy-intensive operations of mines, often driven by fossil fuels, can gradually change the microclimate of an area through deforestation, causing endless hardship to local communities.

Tribal protesters, who assembled at Modonar village in Narayanpur district two years ago, had complained of failed crops, damaged roads, and polluted water due to iron ore.

Temperatures are also on the rise. A government schoolteacher, who did not wish to be named, says summers have turned hotter due to the steel plants in the area. In steel manufacturing, iron ore is the primary raw material.

He says,

“Within a radius of 50 km of one such plant, some residents are feeling the effect of heat. They want to sell their lands and migrate elsewhere.”

In the Bastar region, mines opened with the help of security camps have already made inroads in previously inaccessible and remote areas. Despite mass protests, iron ore mining is underway at Rowghat mines in Kanker district and at Jayaswal Neco Industries Ltd mines at Amdai Ghati in Narayanpur.

Protests peaked in 2022-23 when affected communities, mostly tribals and forest dwellers, informed this reporter about the total apathy shown towards them.

A spokesperson from Rowghat, talking to The Quint then, had called the allegations raised by the villagers "baseless and wrong".

Chhattisgarh is rich in iron ore and other minerals like coal, bauxite, dolomite and limestone. Iron ore deposits in Bailadila, mined by the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) since the late 1960s, is considered to be of world-class and export quality.

The NMDC iron ore mine at Bailadila, Dantewada. Mining has led to deforestation in Bastar region.

(Photo: Deepanwita Gita Niyogi)

Besides Bailadila, the Rowghat project is expected to extract 500 MT of iron ore in Rowghat hills, spanning Kanker and Narayanpur districts, for supply to the Bhilai Steel Plant of SAIL for the next two decades.

Tribal communities who are concerned about the possible displacement of villages and adverse impacts on cultivable farmlands have staged protests since 2022.

In Narayanpur district, Jayaswal Neco Industries was permitted the extraction of precious iron ore at Amdai Ghati in 2016. But this has been marked by agitation and violence, too. On 4 November 2023, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ratan Dubey was killed, allegedly by insurgents, ahead of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. A jawan of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police was also killed during a road inauguration in the area in 2021.

Anti-Maoist operations have intensified in entire Bastar, despite a changing climate and a challenging terrain.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Climate Change and Insurgency

As counter-insurgency operations intensified in Bastar the past few months, the conflict has been further complicated by mining activity and the loss of valuable forest cover. Data shared by the forest department shows that about 4,155 hectares of forest have been diverted for mining in the region. Deforestation due to the expansion of iron ore mining is making the terrain more volatile, and the battle more complex.

“Anti-Maoist operations have intensified in entire Bastar. Several leaders have been killed. Others have either been arrested or forced to surrender. Due to deforestation, hiding in forests has become a challenge for insurgents. Thousands of trees have been felled to make way for security camps as well. On top of that, natural water sources are drying up due to a changing climate. The whole of Bastar used to receive continuous monsoon rainfall. Now, it is not the case,” a source who works in the field of health said on the condition of anonymity.

Bela Bhatia, independent human rights activist, lawyer, and writer based in Dantewada district, echoes him, saying:

"Maoist insurgents need forest cover for shelter. The insurgents have lived here for such a long time because of its unique geography. The population density is low, and the dense forest allows interstate movement among Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. But now technology has been upgraded with aerial surveillance mechanism like drones. This can give rise to insecurities among Maoists as hiding isn't that easy anymore due to deforestation."

According to data shared by Bastar Inspector General Sundarraj P, the region saw 253 encounters from 2023 till 9 June 2025. A total of 63 security personnel were killed during this period, and as many as 3,573 insurgents were arrested or have surrendered, and 429 were killed.

According to data shared by Bastar Inspector General Sundarraj P, there have been 253 encounters between armed forces and Maoists from 2023 till 9 June 2025.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

This is in line with Union Home Minster Amit Shah’s claims of complete annihilation of the Maoist insurgency movement by 2026.

Maoist Violence and Climate Change

A 2018 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report had hinted at the possibility of violence due to climate change in South Asia.

Kheira Tarif, researcher in the climate change and risk programme at SIPRI, points out that while climate-related conflict pathways, like impact on livelihood, migration, armed group strategies, and elite opportunism, are witnessed globally, South Asia faces unique challenges.

“The region is already struggling with fast population growth, poverty, environmental damage, and food shortages,” Tarif tells The Quint. 

Climate change results in extreme weather events such as erratic rainfall patterns, increased temperatures, severe floods, and sea level rise.

“These changes directly hurt resources, people’s ability to earn a living, and the economy, all of which can increase tension and lead to violence. For instance, when natural disasters hit, powerful groups sometimes take over land from displaced communities. Unfair land laws can make poor communities more vulnerable, and push them into conflict,” says Tarif. 

According to the source who works in health, the Maoist leadership is purportedly under threat due to these factors, making them more vulnerable. However, Tarif argues that a changing climate doesn't necessarily work against them. In fact, they often "adapt and use these environmental changes to their benefits".

According to Tarif, one of the ways is control over resources.

“When water and food become scarce due to climate change, armed groups may change tactics to seize control of these two things, especially in fertile areas. This helps them secure their own supply.”

Kheira Tarif

Natural water sources like streams and waterfalls help in quenching the thirst of security forces as well as Maoists during summers.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

It is possible for insurgents to use discontent to attract new recruits, especially in places where governments do not effectively help people. However, the researcher adds, that the long-term effects of climate change on such groups are complex and depend on local situations.

Water Plays a Crucial Role

Interviews with local experts reveal that water availability is a key factor in counter-insurgency operations. Like, former Maoist-turned-police constable Sarita Sinha (name changed) admits that accessing water becomes difficult during peak summer.

However, Rajesingh Hupendi, who surrendered in 2009, says it's the police who struggle more with water scarcity. “Insurgents are more familiar with the forest terrain,” he says. “For them, lack of water is rarely a problem.”

Natural water sources like streams and waterfalls help in quenching the thirst of security forces as well as Maoists during summers.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

A CRPF jawan currently posted in Raipur and earlier in Dantewada admits that despite carrying drinking water, shortage leads to stress during operations. “Forces face the heat in peak summers when a distance of at least 10-20 km have to be covered,” he says.

Rishav Jha, an IPS officer who's currently in charge of the anti-terrorist squad in Ranchi, started anti-Maoist operations in 2018 in Jharkhand’s Maoist-dominated areas. According to him, areas which had plenty of water sources used to serve as the main hideouts of insurgents. “But, due to the drying up of water sources as a result of prolonged heat, it is possibly easier to corner them now. That is why, more successful operations have increased in the recent years,” Jha tells The Quint.

There’s more—shifting rainfall patterns in recent years have also affected operations.

“This year, it is raining heavily in Jharkhand, and so, the anti-Maoist operations have been hampered. In the past two-three years, this was not the case."

Sharing an example from his own experience, Jha recalls participating in counter-insurgency operations in Jharkhand’s Latehar district in 2018. “Operations usually peak in April-May, just before the monsoon. But that year, the heat was exhausting—it made the entire exercise extremely difficult,” he says.

In Latehar, temperatures have even touched 44 degrees Celsius. 

Meanwhile, Bastar experiences intense summers with temperatures crossing 40 degrees Celsius. It reported 14 heatstroke cases from 2015 to 2019. In the same period, Bijapur recorded 51 cases and Dantewada 38, according to the State Action Plan for Climate Change and Human Health 2022-2027 report.

Meteoblue, a meteorological service from the University of Basel, Switzerland, shows that the mean yearly temperature in Bastar in 1980 stood at 24.9 degrees Celsius. In 2024, it was 25.9.

Raghu Murtugudde, Emeritus Professor, University of Maryland, and retired professor at IIT-Bombay, says that these degree-level changes come with increased humidity and changes in vapour pressure deficit, both of which adversely affect vegetation cover and crop health. "Then, there are heatwaves that ride on these seemingly small changes and cause serious health impacts, especially for outdoor workers like miners, vendors, and farmers. If the monsoon is deficit, as it seems to be in recent years, then it exacerbates the heat effects."

According to Sundarraj, security personnel in Bastar operate under extreme weather conditions and rough terrain, but their commitment to peace and progress remains steady.

Echoing these challenges, Deputy Superintendent of Police Amrita Paikra, posted in Narayanpur district, says,

“Many forest streams, though replenished during the rains, dry up in summer due to the rocky and porous terrain. Security forces often trek 20 to 30 km a day in extreme heat, and dehydration becomes a serious concern.”

To cope with harsh conditions, security personnel rely on traditional cooling drinks like kodo millet landa and ragi pej. But these perish quickly and can't be stored long.

Now in his 70s, Khemu Singh was once part of the Naxalbari uprising in West Bengal. He was arrested in 1975 and spent six years in prison before being released in 1981.

Singh says that farmers, labourers, and daily wagers continue to suffer exploitation, but believes the Naxalite-Maoist movement has shifted. He feels sporadic violence no longer resonates with the public or addresses urgent issues.

With climate change worsening ground realities like water scarcity, growing alienation and disillusionment may further weaken the insurgency, leading to more surrenders and arrests.

(Deepanwita Gita Niyogi is a New Delhi-based freelance journalist.)