The Mamata Banerjee government has decided to translocate 980 full-grown trees from 376 acres of land on which the first phase of the proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine project in Birbhum would come up.
The move assumes significance as this is going to be the first time that so many full-grown trees would be translocated from any project site in Bengal.
"Instead of cutting the trees, the plan is to translocate the trees from the project site. This is the first such large-scale exercise.... As this is a costly exercise, the state government has allocated about ₹15 crore for this purpose," said a senior state government official.
Tree translocation, also known as tree transplantation, is a process of digging up trees and moving them from one location to another. Translocation is often undertaken in various Western countries for the sake of the environment, but the process is yet to take off in India in a big way due to the high cost involved in such an exercise.
Multiple sources in the state administration said that the Bengal government has taken up the exercise of translocation of so many trees as it is desperate to make the Deocha-Pachami coal mine project functional ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
"The ruling establishment is facing questions over the lack of employment opportunities in the state. If the mining of coal can be started within the next one year, it can generate at least 30,000 direct employment ahead of the 2026 polls," said an official.
At a time when the focus is on job creation, the Nabanna top brass has decided to take up the exercise of translocating the trees from the project site as it would help the state avoid uncomfortable questions about the environmental impact of the project.
Moreover, the exercise was likely to help the state earn the faith of the local tribal populace, which has had reservations over cutting down so many trees, including Mahua and Arjun varieties.
"As we care about the environment, we have decided to translocate 980 trees in a nearby area. We will also plant 5,000 saplings around the project area as per the norm of the environment department," said Bidhan Roy, the Birbhum DM, under whose jurisdiction the mine area falls.
The state government has already engaged an agency to lift the basalt cover from the 376 acres, where the first phase of coal mining will start. Sources in Nabanna said that the removing the basalt cover will begin by January 2025.
"Once the basalt overburden is lifted, it would be a matter of time before mining of coal begins," said a source.
As part of an attempt to start mining coal at the earliest, the state government has already identified a 10-acre plot where the trees would be translocated from the project time.
A primary school building would be constructed on the same plot as the project site has such an institution.
Sources in the government said that the government was baking on three major projects — the deep sea port in Tajpur, industrial corridors from Dankuni and the Deocha-Pachami coal mine — to generate employment opportunities in the state ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
"As the future of the deep sea port is uncertain and unavailability of land and fund crunch have pressed a pause button on the industrial corridor project, the government is banking on the coal mine project and is keen to launch it before 2026," said a bureaucrat.