Congress MLAs created a ruckus in the Chhattisgarh Assembly on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) after their demand for a discussion on alleged rampant mining and deforestation was disallowed by the Speaker.
The Opposition legislators alleged that the State’s Vishnu Deo Sai-led Bharatiya Janata Party Government was working for the benefit of industrialists and capitalists.
Moving an adjournment motion notice, Congress members claimed that areas such as Surguja, Hasdeo Aranya coalfields, Tamnar and Bastar were witnessing mass protests and road blockades, alleging that fake public hearings were being conducted for the approval of coal mines.
The Congress alleged that unprecedented deforestation was being witnessed in the Tamnar area in Raigarh, and large-scale felling of trees was allegedly taking place on forest and revenue land.
Citing Hasdeo Arand—often referred to as the ‘lungs of Chhattisgarh’— the Opposition MLAs said that deforestation in the region has already led to loss of lakhs of trees, and poses serious threats to biodiversity, water resources and elephant corridors. They warned that continued deforestation could intensify human-elephant conflict and worsen water scarcity.
