Journalist Raghav Trivedi's explosive report, initially published on the "Politicse" platform, has sent shockwaves through the political landscape. The report meticulously details how the Adani Group has allegedly benefited from unprecedented government largesse, starting with Bihar. In Bhagalpur district, a staggering 102.60 acres of prime land, worth crores, was leased to Adani Power for a mere ₹1 per year for a massive 2400 MW power project. This project, budgeted at ₹21,400 crore, raises serious questions about fairness, especially as it reportedly uses power from a plant built with Bihar's own money, fueled by Bihar's coal, only to sell electricity back to the state at ₹6.79 per unit, higher than what other states pay. This isn't just a sweetheart deal; it's described as a "double loot" where public resources are privatized at rock-bottom prices, while profits soar.
The report, however, reveals this isn't an isolated incident. Across Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra, a disturbing pattern emerges. In Godda, Jharkhand, 1364 acres were taken for another Adani power plant, with bulldozers flattening crops, tribal burial grounds, ponds, and ancient trees. When locals protested, police allegedly refused to register complaints, and one tribal farmer was threatened with being "buried in the ground" if he didn't surrender his land. In Maharashtra's Gondkhairi coal mines, a Supreme Court-protected forest, the Judpi jungle, faces felling for an Adani project. Locals claim they were denied environmental impact reports in their native Marathi language, effectively silencing their objections and branding them "anti-development" for daring to speak up. In Odisha, 55,000 tribal people's lives, intrinsically linked to the Gandhamardan hills, are at risk as their lands are allegedly acquired under the guise of "afforestation," fueling fears of bauxite mining.
These cases reveal a shocking disregard for existing laws, particularly the Land Acquisition Act 2013 and the Forest Rights Act 2006, both of which mandate Gram Sabha (village council) consent for private projects on tribal and forest lands. Yet, villagers consistently report that their consent was either never sought, obtained through "fake" Gram Sabhas, or presented in languages they couldn't understand. The environmental toll is immense, with thousands of fruit-bearing trees like mango, shisham, and litchi, crucial to villagers' livelihoods, declared "barren" to facilitate their felling. Environmental Protection Act 1986 requirements for publicizing impact reports are allegedly ignored, while compensatory afforestation rules are seemingly flouted. The core issue transcends mere land; it's about the erosion of democratic processes, where rules are bent for investors, public resources are seized at negligible costs, and dissent is criminalized. Is this "development" or the quiet collapse of democracy under corporate influence? The report leaves you wondering: who truly benefits when a country's resources and people are treated as mere bargaining chips for powerful interests?
