The gathering of protestors on March 6, 2025, at Sagarbandi under Mohammed Bazar block in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, close to where basalt mining work has started since February this year.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Basalt mining work at the Deocha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harisingha (DPDH) coal project resumed on Thursday (March 6, 2025) evening, March 6, 2025, Birbhum District Magistrate Bidhan Ray said on Friday, after a three-day hiatus over fresh protests by local villagers since Tuesday, March 4.
On Tuesday, hundreds of local villagers primarily from the hamlets of Chanda, Mathura Pahari and Sagarbandi in Birbhum district’s Mohammed Bazar block had gathered at the project site where basalt mining started on February 6, demanding the mining work be brought to a complete and permanent halt.
The protestors primarily comprised women and tribals from the three villages close to the area where mining work began. They planted a charka (stick) at the protest site, as part of a tribal ritual of symbolizing the stoppage of work till the stick is removed.
They had alleged that the project is causing irreparable damage to their environment and health and that forests had been cleared for mining without prior intimation to the tribals residing there. Protestors also stated that they would not surrender their birthright lands to the project and would decline the compensation package that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced, including monetary benefits, land, and a government job to one member of each family.
Local activists have now alleged a heavy clampdown by the local administration and police forces on Thursday in a large-scale protest gathering by villagers of Mathura Pahari, Sagarbandi, Chanda, and Pathar Para.
“On Thursday, a large-scale meeting was planned for thousands of protestors at Sagarbandi at around 11.30 in the morning. Many villages were barricaded by a massive armed police deployment to prevent people from reaching the agitation. In the gathering, protestors decided to give the administration one week to remove all machinery and materials from the project site. Then senior police officers turned up at the gathering and started intimidating the villagers into withdrawing their protest,” local activist Jui Koley said on Friday.
She alleged that while villagers stayed resilient in their decision to not surrender their land, a small group of tribals from Mathura Pahari were forcibly taken to the local administration office on Thursday and “coerced them to consent to the resumption of mining work by removing the charka in the evening”.
“Senior police officers from Mohammed Bazar called me on my phone and threatened me with dire consequences. They accused me of bringing in arms and Maoists into the villages, only because I am actively opposing the mining project. They also hurled profanities on me over the phone,” local tribal activist Sushil Murmu alleged.
Like Ms Koley, Mr Murmu also accused the administration of cracking down on villagers through heavy deployment of armed police personnel, installation of barricades in and around the village, and shutdown of internet services in the area since Tuesday.
“The tribals of the area are resolute in the movement for their rights as tribals and the rightful owners of land in this region. This is where generations of our family, our forefathers, lived their lives. We will fight for our birthright to this land. We do not support this mining project at all,” he said.
Senior police officers were also caught on video addressing protestors at the gathering on Thursday and citing the example of Dhana Hansda, a primary school teacher from nearby Habra Pahari village who was mysteriously shot to death during a protest movement in 2022.
“Police officers threatened them with a similar fate if they do not withdraw their agitation and allow mining work to resume peacefully,” Ms Koley alleged.
Meanwhile, workers’ unions across the State have expressed solidarity with the local agitation at the DPDH coal block.
“While earlier the myth being propagated was that the indigenous people or Adivasis are happy with the project, and the work is only on land owned by the Government, the resistance of the people of the area on March 4th, 2025, and the police action thereafter showed that people were very upset with the project… The administration failed to pay heed to the relationship of the Adivasis with their forests, rivers and land. The cutting of trees created the spark that led to their protest. The real situation became visible showing that the local people have been united all this while and have resisted both temptation and threats,” the Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity, Shramajivi Mahila Samity and Paschim Banga Cha Majoor Samity said in their statement.
Earlier, a district administration official had told The Hindu that the mining work was brought to a temporary halt because of “local issues” and that camps assist local villagers in ironing out problems in their land ownership documents have been on track since February 5.
Published – March 08, 2025 10:37 am IST