There is an uneasy calm in Kuradiphasa village at the foothills of the Gandhamardhan Hills. “It is the calm before the storm,” says Himanjali Das, who belongs to the indigenous Kondh tribe.

Wearing a t-shirt and trousers, a watch strapped to her wrist, the youth leader in her 20s leans on her steel-blue two-wheeler on which she rides to the various villages of the Paikamal block in Odisha’s Bargarh district.

Das is a young woman with a cause. “If our sacred Gandhamardhan Hills have to be protected from mining, then youth from local Adivasi communities have to come forward. I am one such youth and there are hundreds like me from villages that depend on Gandhamardhan for their livelihoods,” she told IndiaSpend.

“There are reports that mining is likely to return to our hills, and we are preparing for yet another long battle.”

The acquisition of over 45 hectares of land last year in villages surrounding the hills, by Mahanadi Mines and Minerals Ltd, a subsidiary of the Adani Group, has rekindled fears of bauxite mining in the area. The Gandhamardhan Hills have rich reserves of bauxite, which is used to make aluminium. Although the company claims that the purchased land is meant for ‘compensatory afforestation’, local communities are suspicious: once bitten, twice shy, they say.

“Forty years ago, when mining on our hills was first proposed, we did not quite understand the implications,” recalled 75-year-old Diamond Bhoi, an Adivasi leader from Goudmal village who went on to be at the forefront of the anti-mining movement of the 1980s. “We thought a road was being built to help us access our forests, and we actually worked as labourers to build the road up the hill.”

“It was only when we heard a loud explosion at the hilltop, did we realise our hills were under threat,” Bhoi, who is from the Adikandh tribe, said. “That day we vowed to drive away the mining company.” A long struggle ensued and the company had to finally leave.

The Gandhamardhan Hill range is a group of hills spread across Odisha’s Bargarh and Balangir districts, adjacent to the Eastern Ghats. Gandhamardhan is rich in biodiversity, non-timbre forest produce (NTFP), and is a repository of a variety of medicinal plants and herbs.

In March 2023, the Odisha government declared about 19,000 hectares of Gandhamardhan Hills as a Biodiversity Heritage Site. About 12,431 ha of this forest area lies in Bargarh district and the rest in the neighbouring Balangir district, where MMML has recently acquired the land.

It is said that the Gandhamardhan Hills sustain more than a million people through its forests which are rich in mahua, tubers, fruits, honey, mushrooms, hill grass, etc. Twenty two perennial and 54 seasonal streams, including two major tributaries of the river Mahanadi – Ang and Suktel – originate from here and meet the water needs of Bargarh, Balangir, and Nuapada districts.

Besides untold ecological wealth, the Gandhamardhan Hills are home to two sacred sites of strong cultural and historical value. The Nrusinghanath Temple is located at the northern slope and the Harishankar Temple on the southern slope of the foothills. “Our bountiful hills and deities are non-negotiable,” Bhoi said.

The Hills became frontpage news in the 1980s when the state-owned Bharat Aluminium Company, or BALCO, arrived there to mine bauxite. It is estimated that there are about 105 million tonnes of bauxite reserves in these hills, surpassing the 72 million tonnes in the Niyamgiri hills where the Dongoria Kondh, a particularly vulnerable tribal group in Odisha, led another anti-mining movement in the 2000s.

BALCO encountered stiff resistance from tribal communities in the 200 villages in the region. A sustained five-year protest led by the Gandhamardan Yuva Suraksha Parishad, a local youth organisation, forced BALCO to abandon its plans to mine there.

The fears of the 1980s have resurfaced. “The government must give it in writing that our Gandhamardhan will never be opened for mining or any other destructive projects,” said Bhoi. There has already been a 90-day protest at Paikamal block headquarters earlier this year, and another 45-day protest in Balangir.

IndiaSpend reached out to Adani group’s mining vertical with questions about the acquisition and the apprehensions. We will update this story when we receive a response.

Double trouble

Protection of the hills is only a part of the problem, said Adikanda Biswal. He is member of the Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti, a Paikamal-based non-profit. “The bigger struggle is getting titles over their forests – community forest rights, or CFA – under the Forest Rights Act of 2006,” he said.

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, known as FRA, gives power and authority to the gram sabha, under Sec 3 (1) (i) and Sec 5, to formulate their own system of forest management and governance.

“But gram sabhas in Bargarh are facing several challenges. For instance, in Paikamal block, which is a predominantly tribal block, there are 119 potential CFR villages of which only 28 have received their titles,” Biswal explained. Earlier, gram sabhas were being given CFR titles even over reserve forest land (which is significant, because that’s where communities’ customary forests usually are). Now, the government is restricting titles only to revenue forest land. That effectively shrinks the scope and quality of rights being recognised.

Biswal says that in August 2024, 10 CFR titles were distributed in the Paikamal block in which gram sabhas got rights over reserve forest land. “But, this year in June, when 18 more CFRs were granted to gram sabhas, not even a single village got rights over reserve forest land for which they had filed claims.”

It is the same story in the gram sabha of Kurdiphasa, in Mithapalli panchayat. There are 90 households (85 Kondh tribes and 5 others belonging to the Backward Class), and while the gram sabha has filed for CFR over 250 hectares of forest, it is yet to receive the title.

“The government is not giving us CFR over our entire forest because it knows that if we get the rights, we will fight even stronger against mining activities and destruction of our forests,” said Nirmal Patel, a Kondh tribe member from Kuradiphasa.

The people of Badibahal village in Bartund panchayat feel short-changed too. “Under FRA, we filed for CFR over 400 acres [about 162 hectares] of forest, but we have been granted 174 acres [over 70 hectares] only. Also, the granted CFR is only over revenue forest land. We have refused to accept the wrong CFR title,” said Govind Banchur, a resident of the village.

The 18 CFRs that were distributed in June 2025 are still lying at the tehsil office as gram sabhas have refused to accept ‘wrong titles’, said Biswal of MASS.

The website of the Odisha government’s ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department, maintains a record of titles granted under FRA. It says that 35,843 CFR claims were filed by gram sabhas across the state till May 2025. Of these, 8,990 titles covering a forest area of 309,071 hectares were distributed, and the rejected CFR claims stand at 578.

In Bargarh district, 1,330 CFR claims were filed by gram sabhas. Of these, 114 CFR titles (less than nine percent) were distributed, covering a forest area of 2,973 hectares. No CFR claim has been rejected in the district so far.

In Balangir district, 1,610 CFR claims were filed by gram sabhas. Of these, only 12 CFR titles (less than one percent) were distributed covering an area of 1,961 hectares.

IndiaSpend reached out to Saroj Kumar Panda, divisional forest officer of Bargarh who said, “neither we have any pending application for CFR nor applied or sanctioned recently”. They are in the process of reviving the Vana Samrakshana Samithi (village forest protection committee) and the eco-development committee--both of which operate under India’s Joint Forest Management programme, and constituting Biodiversity Management Committee. He also added that “mining in Gandhamardhan is not in any proposal after the BALCO issue”.

However, to fight for their rights over their forests, villages have come together under an umbrella federation called Gandhamardan Gosthi Jungle Parichalana Mahasangh (Gandhamardhan Community Forest Management Federation). This federation of 40 villages in tribal-dominated Paikamal was formed in 2021, but its genesis lies in the anti-mining movement of the 1980s.

A long journey

In 1981, youth from 200 villages in Bargarh and Balangir districts formed the Gandhamardan Yuva Suraksha Parishad to oppose BALCO’s mining project in the area. Each of these villages had its own 10-member committee that guided the protest movement and mobilised local support.

Para Malik is more than 80 years old. She is grey-haired and bent over, but her eyes sparkle as she recalls the protest of the 1980s. The Kondh woman from Kuradiphasa village animatedly recounted how she and other women butted heads with BALCO.

“For more than a year, women blocked the entry road to the Gandhamardhan Hills. We did not fear for our lives as we lay down in front of JCBs [excavators]. Prisons were overflowing, and some of us here even went to jail for three days, but still did not give up our fight,” she said.

Para Malik does not doubt that if mining were to restart, her sons and daughters would protest strongly and even if they had to go to jail, they would ensure no harm came to the sacred hills.

Kheera Patel was a teenager during the anti-mining movement. She is now a grandmother. She passionately reiterated why the hills were so special to their communities.

“Gandhamardhan takes care of almost all our needs,” Patel said. “For six months in a year, we get a variety of saag, tubers, and mushrooms from it. Our forests are rich in mango and jackfruit too. We also collect mahua, kendu [tendu leaves], amla, bamboo and honey from there.”

Local tribal communities in and around the Gandhamardhan Hills have worked hard to protect and regenerate their forest.

“After BALCO left, a certain complacency had set in,” Diamond Bhoi recalled. “We were so happy with our victory. We thought the battle was over and let our guard down. In the years following our protests, our forests in the Gandhamardhan Hills were degrading. Logging by middlemen continued and by the year 2000, our forests were in a bad shape.”

Villagers decided to take matters into their own hands to save the sacred hills. They patrolled their forests. Women took turns for thengapalli, a traditional system of communities guarding their forests.

In 2005, Pragati Federation, a non-registered body of a handful of local villages, was set up to protect the forests and promote trade of NTFP, such as mahua, kendu, honey, etc. It functioned till 2021 when, to further organise the forest villages and demand CFRs, Pragati Federation gave way to the Gandhamardhan Community Forest Management Federation, which has 40 gram sabhas of the Paikamal block as its members.

The Federation

The Gandhamardhan Community Forest Management Federation is a block-level non-registered body. “Individually, it is difficult for each forest village to fight for its CFR,” said Adikanda Biswal, who has been working with forest villages for over two decades. “The Federation provides a platform where all the villages and other stakeholders, such as community-based organisations, youth leaders, Gandhamardan Yuva Suraksha Parishad, development agencies can come together for a dialogue and resolve issues of the villages across the landscape.”

One of the main aims of the Federation is to help gram sabhas file claims under the FRA, follow up with concerned government agencies, hold meetings with the forest department and help villages resolve their issues.

“All the 40 villages who are a part of the Gandhamardhan federation have filed their CFR claims,” Biswal said. “The process of filing claims started in 2016. But only 28 CFR claims have been finalised so far. These claims are not complete, hence gram sabhas have refused to accept them. It is a stalemate situation in Paikamal.”

The Federation has its own rules that govern its functioning and ensure participation of all member villages. “Each of the 40 villages that is a part of the federation has its own village-level committee known as Community Forest Resource Management Committee. Each committee has between five and 11 members, who are elected by the gram sabha. Half of these members are women,” Biswal explained.

Two members, one woman and one man, from each of these village-level committees are elected and they become members of the block-level federation. Thus, the Gandhmardhan federation has 80 members. It meets on a quarterly basis.

“In April this year, the federation met to discuss the land acquisition by Mahanadi Mines and Minerals Ltd,” said Mahashwar Bhoi from Kansada village in Kansada panchayat of Paikamal. “There was concern that mining activities would begin again. The federation decided that it would oppose any such project tooth and nail.”

Meanwhile, this collective has inspired other villages in Bargarh district to organise themselves into federations to better fight for their forest rights and development of their regions.

These include Padamapur Block Federation and Gaisilet Block Federation, both of which have been formed. Meanwhile, four more block-level federations – Sohela, Bhatli, Ambabhona and Attabira – are being set up.

“Bargarh district has 12 blocks, of which eight blocks are heavily dependent on the forests and forest produce,” Adikanda Biswal said. “After all the block-level federations are formed, we will form a larger district level federation that will be a much bigger multi-factor platform for collective action.”

According to him, these federations have taken up an innovative approach to local governance through multi-actor platform, which brings various stakeholders together to address concerns of villages through dialogue and collaborations.

“Last year, some villages were not getting their FRA titles. So in September 2024, a group of 200-300 villagers of Padampur subdivision decided to gherao their sub-collector. The MLA Barsha Singh Bariha got to know of it and immediately intervened, and the gram sabhas got their CFRA titles,” narrated Biswal. “All this would not have been possible if there was no multi-actor platform to bring stakeholders together for collective action,” he added.

Forest-based livelihoods get a fillip

In the past two decades, the forests have slowly come back to life. And economic benefits have followed in terms of NTFP trade.

“In 2013, villagers around Gandhamardhan Hills started to trade in NTFP, such as kendu, mahua, bamboo, char [chironji], etc. Today, on an average, each tribal family earns Rs 80,000 per year from the NTFP trade alone,” said Adikanda Biswal.

Last year Subalaya Malik, an inhabitant of Kuradiphasa village collected 50 kg char (an edible fruit and kernel) from the forest, which sells for Rs 300 a kg. “I also collected three quintals of mahua and earned Rs 4,000 per quintal. From kendu patta, I earned another Rs 4,000. We also extracted 15 litres of mahua oil for self consumption and 5-6 quintals of honey from the forest," Malik said.

On average, each tribal household in Kuradiphasa has 1-2 acres of farmland. The Adivasi villagers cultivate a variety of vegetables for their own needs and sell excess produce for additional income.

“Apart from paddy, I grow beans, tomato, ladyfinger, leafy vegetables and paan [betel leaf]. Every morning, I board a bus and go to Paikmal town to sell the produce and return home by noon. This way I earn Rs 400-500 daily,” said Kheera Patel, who is a member of the Federation. “The Federation has helped us organise ourselves and has given us the confidence to face the world.”

Last year, Kheera Patel collected four quintals of mahua from the forest. “On average, each Adivasi family annually earns between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000 from mahua alone,” the Adivasi woman said.

Even edible oil is extracted by tribal families themselves, said Para Malik. “We use mahua oil for cooking and we extract it on our own. There is so much mahua in our forest that we cannot harvest it all. Why would we let anyone destroy the forest that feeds us?”

Tribal women like Para Malik and Kheera Patel also collect hill grass from the Gandhamardhan forests and make brooms from it, which sells for Rs 30 per piece. Kuradiphasa village also has a women’s FPO that sells forest honey.

A research paper titled Local Economy and Forest-based Livelihood in Gandhamardan Region of Western Odisha has studied the role Gandhamardhan forests play in the lives of local villagers and their economy. It found about 62% households engaged in activities related to the forest. The study, published in September 2023, concluded that “restricting forest access would negatively affect rural people’s welfare and widen economic gaps”.

Tribal villages in Bargarh see themselves as the real guardians of their forests, and oppose mining tooth and nail. “We hold meetings to raise awareness about the protection of the Gandhamardhan and dangers of mining. We have also written a letter to the BDO [block development officer] informing him that we do not want any mining operations in the Gandhamardhan region,” said Himanjali Das, the youth leader from Kuradiphasa.

Bajaru Dharua uses songs written by villagers to protest and protect Gandhamardhan. “We had written more than 50 bhajans in the 80s,” the 83-year-old traditional healer, who collects medicinal plants and herbs from the Gandhamardhan Hills, told IndiaSpend. “The songs were in Sambalpuri language and they warned people against mining by BALCO. We published them as booklets and circulated them in schools and colleges. Street plays were enacted too. We are prepared for another anti-mining movement.”

His own family earns Rs 40,000 a year from mahua alone. “Today, I sold medicinal plants worth Rs 8,000. People from all across India come to me for nature-based treatment. This is the blessing of our Gandhamardhan,” said the traditional healer.

The 83-year-old broke into a song he had first sung in the 1980s, urging the people to protect the Gandhamardhan Hills at any cost.

This report is republished with permission from IndiaSpend, a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit. It has been lightly edited for style and clarity.

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