The Evicted Tribals of Chhattisgarh: Their Saga of Impoverishment and Marginalisation

The Hasdeo Arand is a tribal-dominated region of Chhattisgarh, with heavy coal reserves and rich biodiversity with many rare species of flora and fauna. Despite being declared a Scheduled Area for its ecological sensitivity, two coal mining projects were approved in the region in 2011, and it had a devastating impact on the forest ecosystem, leading to a loss of livelihood, culture and identity of the local tribes. This article analyses the displacement of the tribals in Hasdeo Arand from the standpoint of eight impoverishment risks, as discussed in the Impoverishment Risks and Reconstruction Model of Michael Cernea, 1997. Stated differently, the article explicates the application of the Cernea model in the context of a project-induced displacement in India. Further, it offers a nuanced understanding of the marginalisation of the displaced tribals in the backdrop of the government–business alliance. This qualitative research is a result of the study conducted among the displaced tribals of Mohanpur, Hariharpur, Fatehpur and Ghatbarra villages of Hasdeo Arand in Chhattisgarh.