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The hills scattered across the coal center of Chandrapur are an oasis in central India, full of coal mines, where the rain puddles are all black, and coal-fired power plants emit thick smoke into the sky.
However, the locals live in the fear of these hills-dunes are formed from sand dug from coal mines and are covered with a patch of green-because they create a new habitat for tigers and other wild animals , These animals are responsible for a series of devastating attacks.
Compared with the creation of new wildlife habitats, coal mining is more often criticized by environmentalists for polluting air and water, destroying landscapes, and exacerbating climate change.
But Santosh Patnaik, who manages the project to ensure a green and fair transition with the New Delhi-based South Asia Climate Action Network, noted that the coal industry “has results that we don’t yet know.”
India is the world’s second largest coal producer after China, but its domestic industry is in short supply, and the government is increasing production.
Patnaik said these impacts are mostly negative for local communities-from increased poverty and health damage to the ongoing human-animal conflict in Chandrapur.
“Human disturbance is the main cause of environmental disturbance-fossil fuel mining poses an existential threat to the entire ecosystem,” he added.
Human-beast conflict
Experts say that India is densely populated with a population of 1.3 billion. Because people occupy wildlife habitats, they are vulnerable to human-animal conflicts, especially Chandrapur, because its mines are close to forests, so they are in danger.
Bandu Dottel, a member of the Western Wildlife Commission of Maharashtra, where Chandrapur is located, said that leopards, bears and now tigers have been seen in the area. With the efforts to protect the species, their numbers Is increasing.
“They have a favorable habitat, access to water and prey. But people don’t foresee the future…this will be a big problem,” Dhotre, founder and president of the environmental group Eco-Pro, pointed to a rainy morning Hill said.
Officials said Chandrapur is home to the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, one of India’s 50 such reserves. As conservation efforts have achieved results, the number of tigers and leopards has doubled in the past 10 years. Reached about 85 and 105.
There is no mining activity in the forest or its buffer zone, but mines and power plants have been built on natural corridors that animals used to move between forest areas.
At the same time, the sand dune plantation stipulated by the Indian Environmental Law-covering approximately 930 hectares (2,300 acres) in Chandrapur alone-as the number of wild animals increases, it has inadvertently provided new migrating wildlife. Habitat.
Villagers who live near hills called overburden by the mining industry have not dared to take risks alone or after dark after being attacked in recent months.
“We have always felt scared. Our farm has lost cows and buffaloes due to tiger attacks,” said Pankaj Dhingare, a farmer and council member in Khairgaon village next to the overburden.
“When the miners make a profit, we are suffering losses. They should compensate us financially, or at least give us work,” Dhingar said, playing a video of a tiger on a country road the previous night on his cell phone.
“This may be the first time in the world”
Less than two kilometers (miles) from Khairgaon, 38-year-old Nisha Umashankar Dandekar whispered how a leopard pounced on her 5-year-old child a year ago, bit her small neck with his paw and killed her.
“I fainted as soon as I saw her. They took her to the hospital, but she was gone,” her mother said. “This is a dense forest. I have been thinking that if I didn’t let her play that day, she might still be alive.”
Dandekar lives in the residential area of Chandrapur Thermal Power Station (CTPS). The rain-soaked streets are lined with vegetation and tiger-patterned signs to remind residents to be vigilant.
CTPS officials said that after Dandekar’s daughter died, trees and shrubs were cleared, street lighting was improved, and cameras were installed to capture animal movements.
“This may be the first time in the world that tigers move in an industrial site. They are even moving in thermal power plants,” said Chief Engineer Pankaj Sapate. “We don’t know what to do.”
Local environmentalists say they only heard stories about tigers and leopards when they were young.
“Now tigers are sitting in people’s farms,” said Suresh Chopane, chairman of the Green Planet Association, a non-profit organization based in Chandrapur.
“Half of the tigers now live in the mulch. These tigers are used to the presence of jeeps, cars and humans. They are not afraid.”
‘black gold’
Because of its abundant coal reserves, locals call Chandrapur the center of “black gold”-but as wildlife attacks have caused more livelihood problems, the name is losing its luster.
Sunil Govinda Lengure, a 32-year-old daily-paid worker, was dissatisfied with the hills across the village after a bear attacked him and tore his skull in February.
When he tried to lift a heavy object, his head still hurt.
“I used to earn 300 rupees ($4) a day, but now I can’t do any work,” Lungure said, standing in front of his single cabin.
He received 5,000 rupees (US$68) from local officials to help him treat, even though another bear attack victim in his village was forced to sell his cattle to raise funds for his treatment.
Meanwhile, in the village of Payali Bhatali, 59-year-old Suresh Shankar Khiradkar was sitting on a small bed. His face was covered with wounds after losing an eye when a bear attacked his farm last month.
His family blamed his plight on the mining industry in their backyard, because their village is close to the sand dunes, and the restoration of the dunes has been troubled by controversy.
Artificial habitat
Chandrapur is deeply concerned. Officials said that animals born in artificial habitats cannot adapt to forests, which means that plans to relocate them to parks or tiger reserves may not work.
NR Praveen, Chandrapur’s chief forest protector, said that those who settled on the mulch would not find the cattle and pine trees they now rely on for food and shelter elsewhere.
Officials from the State-owned Western Coalfield Co., Ltd. (WCL), which operates 10 coal mines in Chandrapur, stated that mining coal from its four high-yield open-pit mines requires removing large amounts of sand and rocks and dumping them for 2 to 5 kilometers (1 to 3 miles) away .
They added that the trees planted on the resulting sand dunes helped curb soil erosion and air pollution.
WCL did not respond to questions about what measures it is taking to prevent human-animal conflicts, but the official who spoke anonymously said that the issue has nothing to do with mining activities.
At the same time, Dandeka moved to another neighborhood a few months after her daughter’s death, but still often saw wild animals.
“We can stay vigilant, but the kids can play, right?” she said, calling her 13-year-old son in from the terrace. “This shouldn’t happen to anyone again.”
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