MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government is in the eye of the storm over a proposed iron-ore mining project that will run through the tiger corridor in Chandrapur district.
The proposed mine at Lohadongri, in Chandrapur, Vidarbha, will cut across the tiger corridor of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve that is home to about 300 tigers. The open cast mine project executed by the Nagpur-headquartered Sunflag Steel will require digging up to 54 metres, and will be spread across 35.94 hectares of the tiger corridor.
Last month, the State Wildlife Board recommended the project to the National Board for Wildlife for final clearance. This comes despite a state-appointed committee pointing out the widespread ecological damage the project will wreak.
The committee, comprising Praveen Pardeshi, advisor to the CM and president of the Bombay Natural History Society, environmentalist Poonam Dhanwatey and the former Chandrapur chief conservator of forests Jitendra Ramgaonkar had visited the proposed spot twice before filing their report.
The committee opposed the project on several grounds. The report, a copy of which is with HT, said: “The project proponent has demanded a biodiversity-rich area of 35.94 hectares of reserved forest having 18,024 trees…The area is home to flagship species such as tigers and leopards among others. The core activity of the project i.e. the mining of iron ore and ancillary activities like the construction of a road, transportation etc are going to have a large-scale negative impact on the ecology of the area.”
The report goes on to say: “The fragmentation of this landscape due to development projects (irrigation projects, canals, road-widening etc) has already resulted in boxing in the large carnivores and forcing them to co-exist with people, leading to the highest level of human-carnivore conflict… Any mining in this forest will cause irreversible damage to the environment and wildlife, loss of huge tree cover and immense pollution to air and water.”
The report pointed out that the proposed mine, which would require digging down to 54 metres, had an annual output of only 1.1 million tonnes of iron ore through the entire 12-year period that the site had been asked for. Furthermore, it would create employment opportunities for just 120 individuals locally and only 32 permanent staffers. Overall, the damage to the habitat, wildlife and water sources, the health risks to local residents by pollutants, far exceeded the proposed benefits, and therefore the project was not recommended. “However, if the National Board of Wildlife is considering the proposal, the project should only be reviewed on the grounds of sustainability, cost-benefit ratio and maintaining integrity of wildlife corridors,” it added.
The proposal was put before the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) on January 6, 2026. Only one member, Kishor Rithe, opposed it. Many activists and Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray have now requested NBWL not to clear it.
HT’s attempts to contact Pardeshi was in vain, while Ramgaonkar refused to comment on the matter.
The principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Sreenvisa Reddy said, “There is not much scope of employment right now, but the committee led by Pardeshi, Dhanwatey and Ramgaonkar also said iron ore extraction can be permitted if 35673.67 hectares, from Ghodazari to Ekara, is given status of a wildlife sanctuary.”
The principal chief conservator of forests M Srinivas Rao said, “I can’t comment on the matter as the decision was taken by the chairman of SBWL.” Pranab Bharadwaj, managing director of Sunflag Steels, did not answer calls or respond to message from this correspondent