Jharkhand Villagers Protest Coal Mining Survey Investigation, Citing PESA Act

Tensions rise in Latehar, Jharkhand, as villagers protest a coal mining survey investigation, citing violations of the PESA Act and demanding prior approval from the gram sabha for any such work in the scheduled area.

Key Points

Villagers in Latehar, Jharkhand, protested a police investigation into the obstruction of a coal mining ground survey.
The villagers claim the survey violated the PESA Act, requiring prior permission from the gram sabha.
An FIR was registered by the coal mining company after villagers seized survey equipment, including a drone camera.
Police reinforcements were deployed to control the situation and pacify the protesting villagers.
The Superintendent of Police acknowledged the villagers' insistence on gram sabha permission before any survey work.

Villagers resisted police investigation into the obstruction of a ground survey work done by a coal mining unit at Kaima village in Jharkhand's Latehar district on Thursday, an officer said.

Latehar Superintendent of Police Kumar Gaurav told PTI that villagers were angry over ground survey work done by a company at the Tubed Coal Mining Project in their villages and had seized the drone camera used for the survey and also forcibly seized the survey materials last week.

"An FIR had been registered by the company, and the local police had gone to the village to investigate the issue when the villagers protested, and this led to heated arguments. We had to rush additional forces led by the Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) and bring the situation under control by pacifying the villagers," the SP said.

Villager's Perspective

Local villager Bahadur Tana Bhagat alleged that the police were attempting to detain some youths and taking them to the police station, to which the villagers resisted.

"The area falls within the Scheduled Area, and the PESA Act (Panchayats Extension to the Scheduled Areas Act) applies here, and any survey work done in the village can only be done after the prior permission of the gram sabha. In this case, it was not done, which led to the protest," alleged Bhagat.

Police Response

The SP admitted that the villagers were adamant on permission from the local gram sabha, citing the provision of the PESA Act before any survey work is undertaken.

"The situation is normal at the village at the moment," the SP claimed.

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