Guwahati, May 22 -- The Forest Advisory Committee has granted in-principle approval to a private mining project in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, a region affected by Naxal activity for nearly five decades. The proposed project, located within a tiger corridor, will require felling approximately 1.23 lakh trees.

According to a report by The Tribune, in 2024, the Maharashtra government approved the project at the state level, claiming it would spur regional development and help curb Left-Wing Extremism (LWE).

A private company plans to build a beneficiation plant to extract hematite and quartzite reserves from the site. The project, which involves diverting 2,315 acres of forest land, carries an estimated cost of Rs 250 crore.

Since...