Taking on Goliath

Winner of the 2024 Goldman Environmental prize, 44-year-old Alok Shukla is no stranger to extraordinary challenges. As a founding member of the Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, a grassroots movement of adivasis from about 30 villages in one of India’s largest contiguous forest tracks—the Hasdeo Aranya forest in Chattisgarh—Shukla has been locked in a real-life David vs. Goliath fight, battling India’s richest coal conglomerates.

Spanning over 1,70,000 hectares, the bio-diverse Hasdeo Aranya forest bears the burden of being resource-rich. It sits atop some 5.6 billion tons of coal, making it one of India’s largest reserves—and the focus of intense interest from coal corporations. These dense woodlands also serve as the watershed for the Hasdeo Bango reservoir, which irrigates 7,41,000 acres of farmland, and forms the life-force for nearly 15,000 Adivasis, such as the Gonds, who draw their both their sustenance and their identity from it. Shukla’s successful community campaign has saved 4,45,000 acres of these biodiversity-rich forests from 21 planned coal mines in Chhattisgarh.

Born in undivided Madhya Pradesh into a family of farmers, Shukla grew up in the lap of nature. Since gaining statehood in 2000, Chhattisgarh—44 per cent of which is forestland—fell prey to rapid development, changing the young state beyond recognition. With its natural resources under duress, several movements protesting this plunder took root.

Shukla too, found himself gravitating towards environmental activism. While attending a protest against the privatization of the Sheonath River, he recalls not being able to stop thinking of the verdant farms and jungles of his childhood. “So I took the opportunity to become a part of that protest.” In 2004 Shukla joined the Nadi Ghati Morcha where he met Dr Brahma Dutt Sharma, who left the IAS and dedicated his life to improving the lives of tribal people. He also met [activist] Medha Patkar, and on visits to various parts of Chhattisgarh, saw first hand how polluted its rivers were and how quickly industries were springing up.

Meanwhile, multiple movements and organizations, such as the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha and Chhattisgarh Kisan Sabha, were fighting similar battles so Shukla played a pivotal role in an effort to bring them together and form the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan in 2010. The idea was to create one strong platform that could amplify their struggles at the state level. As the convenor of the alliance, one of Shukla’s biggest successes was to organize farmers protesting a limestone mining project that endangered the Pandit Lakhanlal Mishra Reservoir. As a result, the ‘no objection’ issued for the mine’s lease was cancelled.

In 2011, Gond activist and tribal leader Hira Singh Markam suggested that Shukla visit Hasdeo Aranya forest, which was becoming a hot-bed of coal mining operations. Two coal blocks, both operated by the Adani group, had sprung up. “Corporations, as well as the state and central governments, wanted to open up new mines and were pressurizing local communities,” he says.

On his first visit to the forest, Shukla was stunned by its beauty. It harboured an important tiger corridor and was a sanctuary to several vulnerable bird and animal species. “That was the day, I vowed to protect Hasdeo,” says Shukla.

But doing so was no easy task. The people of the area lacked any legal knowhow and were easily taken in by widespread misinformation, “that Gram Sabhas have no power, and their land would be taken, minus any compensation”, says Shukla. There were also internal tensions to iron out. “The villages are spread out and though we assume that tribal communities have strong ties, in reality, those community ties are no longer that effective,” he explains.

B. D. Sharma suggested that Shukla start with empowering the Gram Sabhas by educating them about their rights. “This was an important strategy for the movement,” explains Shukla. “Gram Sabhas play a critical role in ensuring ‘free prior informed consent’ of local communities before any new mining project.” But villagers had stopped finding value in Gram Sabha meetings, so Shukla began rectifying this. He spoke about how they were “disenfranchising” themselves by not attending the sessions and gradually, they even began holding their own. “It was all about generating awareness about the law, their rights, and then finding the safeguards to protect them” says Shukla.There were other challenges, too. “Multiple vested interests existed even within the community,” he says. “Some tried to negotiate on behalf of the community and create their own power centres. Our job was to ensure these disruptive forces didn’t dominate.” He did so by painstakingly talking to every household about the Forest Rights Act and success stories elsewhere. “It gave them the confidence that by law, nobody, not even the Prime Minister, could take their land if the Gram Sabha refuses.”

Shukla also learnt just how much the forest meant to the people. More than sustenance, this was their home for generations and a focal point of their identity. “Without the forest, what will I be known as?” was a common refrain. Both victories and setbacks abound during Shukla’s 12-year-long fight. For instance, the central government had proposed 21 coal blocks in 2020, which the community thwarted two years later through marches and protests that garnered public support. The next year 1,995 sq kms of the forest was designated as a Lemru Elephant Reserve, and 1,700 sq km declared as a ‘mining-free zone’ by the Chhattisgarh Assembly.

But the fight is far from over. “There are still a few parts of Hasdeo Aranya, where the threat of two mining projects—the ongoing Parsa East Kete Basen and the adjoining Parsa coal mine—still exists,” Shukla says. Then, there is the danger to his own safety. In December 2023, when 15,000 trees were cut, Shukla says he was illegally detained by individuals he believes, were “plainclothes police” to stop him from reaching the area. He also alleges an attempted attack by unknown persons in 2021 just as he was to embark on a 300-km march from Surguja district to Raipur with adivasis, demanding the cancellation of all coal mining projects in Hasdeo forest. The same year, he learnt that his phone was likely compromised by Pegasus spyware.

As fossil-fuel-hungry nation, India’s environmental future stands on shaky ground. “We continue to claim leadership on climate change and but then allocate more coal mines than ever before,” Shukla points out. With most mineral resources beneath dense forests and tribal-occupied land, Shukla worries about the potential for conflict and exploitative encroachment.

However, hope remains, thanks to a generation of young environmentalists emerging from these communities. “The dream is that not a single tree in Hasdeo should be cut for mining against the wishes of the community. And if society becomes more environmentally conscious, governments will be forced to act” Shukla concludes.