In recent weeks, numerous reports have emerged of large-scale tree felling near Pedakodepal village in Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh. For instance, a video uploaded on the Vihan Bastar YouTube channel on December 11, 2025 showed numerous piles of felled trees scattered across the area. In the footage, villagers confront forest department officials, asking why a large number of trees was being cut without Gram Sabha permission.In response, the Bijapur District Forest Office Ramakrishna is heard saying that after the felled trees have been cleared, more trees would be chopped, and that the Union government had granted permission for doing so. The villagers then tell the YouTuber that roughly 100 acres of forest have been cleared in this way.Not long ago, Congress legislator Vikram Mandavi also raised the issue of tree felling, alleging that the Forest Department was cutting trees without Gram Sabha consent, in violation of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) and the Fifth Schedule.As the controversy escalated, Forest Department official Ranganathan V. held a press conference to clarify the situation, in which he claimed that the tree felling was legal. He said, “This is coupe or timber harvesting. This practice had been halted in this region for the past 30 years due to Maoists burning the trucks. Now that Maoism is nearing its end, it has resumed.”He explained that coupe or timber harvesting is performed in a standardised, scientific manner. This year, coupe harvesting is scheduled at four sites in Bijapur. Coppice cutting, he added, is intended to encourage forest growth by removing hollow, crooked, dry or dying trees.However, numerous viral videos emerging out of Chhattisgarh depict the felling of lush green trees. Residents have been claiming that healthy Mahua, Tendu and Char trees – critical sources of forest produce – are being cut. And as the Maoist movement wanes, concerns over the destruction of water, forests and land are growing, given the long history of struggles in Bastar over these issues. At the same time, calls for strict enforcement of the Fifth Schedule and PESA in Bastar are intensifying.The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides special provisions for Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes, and empowers the President and state governments to regulate land, resources and governance in these areas to protect tribal rights and interests.But now there is a fresh concern that the tribal-majority Bastar region is being positioned as a new investment hub. In efforts to industrialise Bastar, the government aims to improve security, infrastructure – including railways, roads and airports – and offer services such as single-window clearances to attract private investment.On December 16, 2025, the Congress party raised the issue of widespread deforestation for mining in the Chhattisgarh Assembly, alleging massive tree felling in Ari Dongri, Bhanupratappur, Kanker district. The proceedings were disrupted amid the uproar over the issue. But what is happening in Bastar today is only a glimpse of the future being planned for it. As plans for more mining in the state and region take off, there may be large-scale forest destruction.According to the Chhattisgarh’s official mining website, the Bastar district contains deposits of limestone (Raykot, Shivni Alanar, Baranji, Kadma, Junaguda, Daurgaon-Bhursundi, Chapka, Devrapal, Potanar-Baranji, Chhapar, Bhanpuri), dolomite (Tiriya, Machkot, Kumhali, Kumli Jiragaon, Dokri Pakhna, Taraipadar), bauxite (Asna Tarapur), and quartzite (Dilmili).In addition, Narayanpur district has iron ore (Chhotedongar), Kanker district has iron ore (Rawghat, Chargao, Hahaladdi, Kodapal, Metabodli, Aridongri); there is gold in Sondehi, granite in Kanharpuri Narharpur and bauxite in Tarandul and Kumkakurum. Kondagaon district has bauxite in Keshkal – Chherbaha, Kudarbahi, Kuemari and Budhyarimari – and more granite stores in Farasgaon-Kondagaon.The Dantewada district has iron ore, tin, galena, granite, quartz and lepidolite stores, while Bijapur has corundum, granite, copper and bauxite. And Sukma has tin, limestone, lepidolite, corundum, dimension stone, granite, quartz, beryl, sillimanite and clay deposits.As of 2020, Chhattisgarh accounted for roughly 36% of India’s tin ore deposits, 20% of bauxite, 19% of iron ore, 6% of limestone and 4% of diamond resources. The sheer extent of these mineral deposits suggests that even locals may be unaware of their full scope.Geological map of the mineral wealth concealed beneath the surface of Chhattisgarh.Gearing up for investmentDuring the Bastar Investor Connect Program held in September 2025, several major industrialists presented investment proposals. Both the Chhattisgarh and Union governments announced or proposed initiatives totalling around Rs 52,000 crore, with the National Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC) investing Rs 43,000 crore.The projects include railways, roads, mining, tourism, health, education, agriculture and proposals for private small and medium enterprises. The railways have sanctioned Rs 5,200 crore, roads Rs 2,300 crore and Rs 200 crore has been allocated for a multi-specialty private hospital and medical college. Private sector proposals total around Rs 1,000 crore, and they focus on services and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).Under the new industrial policy, 88% of Bastar’s blocks are classified as Group-3 areas, granting maximum investment benefits, with an additional 10% subsidy for entrepreneurs who belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. Tourism investments receive a 45% subsidy, with grants for homestays and eco-tourism ventures.Union Home Minister Amit Shah, at the closing of the Bastar Olympics organised in Jagdalpur on December 13, 2025, stated that it would become the most developed tribal region within five years. He said the seven-district division – Kanker, Kondagaon, Bastar, Sukma, Bijapur, Narayanpur and Dantewada – would become the most advanced tribal division by December 2030.Long history of mineral exploitationMineral exploration in Bastar began during British rule and continues today, with surveys in the 1970s and 1980s identifying numerous deposits, including lithium-bearing pegmatites in Tongpal, Govindpal, Chuirwara, Chintalnar, Mundwal and Bekupada.Geological and mineral basin map of the Bastar region.Mining in the Bailadila area of Dantewada by NMDC has grown over decades. Blocks 1A and 1B are allocated to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Company and Block 1C to Rungta Sons. Adani Enterprises is the Mine Developer-cum-Operator (MDO) for Deposit-13.Local tribal communities have protested the expansion of Deposit-4, which they consider sacred. Mining operations are ongoing in Hahaladi hills, Raoghat, Chargao and Amadai hills, with tin blocks in Dantewada, Sukma and Bastar earmarked for future auctions. The Bodhghat multipurpose project on the Indravati River, pending since the 1970s, was revived in June 2025.Mine allocations during Congress governmentsIn September 2022, the Congress government led by former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel presented 108 mining blocks, including 39 in Bastar, as ready for auction. Sixteen blocks covering 3,640.559 hectares were listed for auction, and four of these were auctioned in 2023. In March 2024, tenders were called for three Exploration License blocks for diamonds and rare earth minerals, spanning 1,478 square kilometres across Kondagaon, Narayanpur and Bastar.A 3.420-hectare limestone mine near Chotekadma in Darbha, Bastar, was allocated to Kursam Sambaiya, with a capacity of 62,500 tonnes per annum. The mine is 3.73 km from Kanger Valley National Park and lies in an environmentally sensitive zone. Vimal Stone Associates has a mining lease for coloured stromatolitic limestone in Mongrapal, 18 km from Jagdalpur. Godawari Power and Ispat Limited has an iron ore lease near Kachche village, and Shri Bajrang Power and Ispat has applied for environmental clearance for Chhotedongar.Allegation of allotting Bastar’s resources to industrial familiesAmit Jogi, chief of the Chhattisgarh Janata Congress, accused the central government of letting the Nagarnar NMDC steel plant be sold to private interests, alleging that 90% of NSL shares were transferred to private enterprises on October 29, 2025. He warned that Bastar’s resources, to Nagarnar, were being sold to Adani and other private companies.State Congress President Deepak Baij echoed these concerns, alleging a “red carpet” for Adani. However, Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma stated that all water, forests and land of Bastar belonged to its people and that PESA and Gram Sabha rules would be enforced.Regardless of what supporters and opponents may say about the mining projects already underway in Bastar and those planned for the future, the speed with which the mining lobby is moving into the region has left the tribal population fearful of a serious threat to their water, forests and land. And whatever reassurances they may be given, youth in Bastar now regularly post new videos on social media showing trees being cut and forests being destroyed. They say their voices are not being heard and that their rights are being violated.Translated from Hindi by Naushin Rehman. Read the original piece published on The Wire Hindi.