Nagpur Oct 29 PTI The police on Friday detained tribal leaders and sent back people who were staging a sit-in protest against a mining project at Surjagarh in Etapalli tehsil of Maharashtras Gadchiroli district Since the last five days locals in the area have been staging a dharna against the iron ore mining project in Surjagarh demanding cancellation of the lease granted to a private company According to the police the locals were given permission to hold a morcha and not a sit-in agitation Local tribals along with Zilla Parishad member Sainu Gota and member of Shetkari Kamgar Paksh Ramdas Jarate had launched an indefinite sit-in protest under the aegis of Surjagarh Paramparik Ilaka Gotul Samiti on Monday Speaking to PTI Gadchiroli superintendent of police Ankit Goyal said some leaders at the dharna were detained and people were requested to leave and they left They were given permission for a morcha and not a dharna However they had been staging a dharna for the last four to five days The police and district collector visited the spot and requested protestors to withdraw the agitation the official said PTI CLS ARU ARU

Nagpur Oct 27 PTI Tribals in Etapalli taluka of Maharashtras Gadchiroli district have begun an indefinite sit-in protest seeking cancellation of an iron ore mining project The local tribals launched the protest on October 25 under the aegis of Surjagarh Paramparik Ilaka Gotul Samiti against the iron ore mining project at Surjagarh demanding cancellation of lease granted to a private company Talking to PTI over phone Ramdas Jarate local leader and state committee member of Shetkari Kamgar Paksh said they have written to the Centre and the state government several times over the years raising objection over the mining activities in Gadchiroli The protesters alleged that the lease given to Surjagarh mining project is in violation of the Panchayats Extension to the Scheduled Areas Act PESA Act 1996 and the Forest Rights Act They also say that they were not taken into confidence before the mining lease was issued We want the agreements of Surjagarh and 20 other mining leases in Gadchiroli be cancelled he said Namdeo Usendi former Congress MLA from Gadchiroli who is supporting the agitation said the government cannot give lease without the approval of the gram sabha Noted Gandhian activist and founder of Ekta Parishad Rajagopal P V visited the agitation of the tribals on the first day Talking to PTI he said There is an increasing level of conflict in tribal areas which can be exploited by other people It is our responsibility to understand this conflict we should intervene to reduce it Employment is one thing but protecting their lives culture and resources is equally important And that will happen only when laws are respected by the government as well as by the people Rajagopal said PTI CLS NP NP