The Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) has granted its crucial approval for a contentious iron ore opencast mining project located near Lohardongri in Chandrapur district. The decision, taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, January 10, 2026, paves the way for the proposal to be forwarded to the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) for the final clearance.
Approval Amidst Stern Ecological Warnings
The board's nod comes despite a detailed report from a three-member expert committee it had itself constituted. The committee's findings, a copy of which is available, starkly warned that any mining activity in this forest would cause irreversible damage to the environment and wildlife. It highlighted the impending loss of a vast tree cover and significant pollution to air and water sources.
The committee recommended wildlife clearance only under one stringent condition: that the entire forest area spanning 34,673.67 hectares, which forms the crucial wildlife corridor connecting the Ghodazari Wildlife Sanctuary and the Ekara Conservation Reserve, must be officially notified as a wildlife sanctuary.
A Vital Corridor Under Threat
The proposed mining site is a 35.94-hectare stretch within Reserved Forest Compartment No. 439 in Bramhapuri. This area is not just any forest patch; it acts as an essential ecological bridge linking the famed Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) with the broader Bramhapuri-Gadchiroli landscape. This corridor is a lifeline for wildlife, supporting an estimated five tigers, eight to ten leopards, sloth bears, and numerous other species.
Kishor Rithe, a member of the SBWL and Director of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), emphasized the project's sensitivity. He pointed out that the area is prone to human-wildlife conflict and suggested exploring the feasibility of underground mining as a less destructive alternative to opencast mining.
Long-Term Consequences for Tigers and People
Rithe elaborated on the profound long-term impacts. "Ghodazari became a tiger area because tigers dispersed from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve," he explained. He warned that opencast mining would destroy a large surface area of this corridor, unlike an underground mine with limited surface impact.
The displacement would force tigers and their prey to move into adjoining areas, mounting immense pressure on surrounding villages. This escalation is likely to significantly increase human-wildlife conflicts. Rithe further cautioned that the ripple effects of such habitat fragmentation could eventually be felt even in urban areas like Nagpur, where tiger presence has already been noted near Butibori and Kalameshwar.
The expert committee's report quantified the direct damage, stating the project would require the felling of 18,024 trees and would severely disturb the critical habitat of tigers, leopards, and sloth bears.
Other Proposals from the SBWL Meeting
In other decisions, the SBWL also cleared a proposal for the construction of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) campus in Mumbai, within the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. This project is planned on 4.0469 hectares of non-forest land near the ESZ's outer boundary.
Another agenda involved notifying the Kolamarka Conservation Reserve, a habitat for the wild water buffalo, as a Wildlife Sanctuary. However, the chairman directed officials to first examine if the reserve falls within a mining corridor and to conduct a comprehensive study. This proposal will be revisited in the board's next meeting after the study is completed and examined.
The final fate of the Lohardongri iron ore mine now rests with the National Board for Wildlife, which will weigh the economic proposition against the severe and potentially irreversible ecological costs outlined by experts.
