In recent weeks, numerous reports have emerged of large-scale tree felling near Pedakodepal village in Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh. For instance, a video uploaded on the Vihan Bastar YouTube channel on December 11, 2025 showed numerous piles of felled trees scattered across the area. In the footage, villagers confront forest department officials, asking why a large number of trees was being cut without Gram Sabha permission.

In response, the Bijapur District Forest Office Ramakrishna is heard saying that after the felled trees have been cleared, more trees would be chopped, and that the Union government had granted permission for doing so. The villagers then tell the YouTuber that roughly 100 acres of forest have been cleared in this way.

Not long ago, Congress legislator Vikram Mandavi also raised the issue of tree felling, alleging that the Forest Department was cutting trees without Gram Sabha consent, in violation of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) and the Fifth Schedule.

As the controversy escalated, Forest Department official Ranganathan V. held a press conference to clarify the situation, in which he claimed that the tree felling was legal. He said, “This is coupe or timber harvesting. This practice had been halted in this region for the past 30 years due to Maoists burning the trucks. Now that Maoism is nearing its end, it has resumed.”

He explained that coupe or timber harvesting is performed in a standardised, scientific manner. This year, coupe harvesting is scheduled at four sites in Bijapur. Coppice cutting, he added, is intended to encourage forest growth by removing hollow, crooked, dry or dying trees.

However, numerous viral videos emerging out of Chhattisgarh depict the felling of lush green trees. Residents have been claiming that healthy Mahua, Tendu and Char trees – critical sources of forest produce – are being cut. And as the Maoist movement wanes, concerns over the destruction of water, forests and land are growing, given the long history of struggles in Bastar over these issues. At the same time, calls for strict enforcement of the Fifth Schedule and PESA in Bastar are intensifying.

The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides special provisions for Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes, and empowers the President and state governments to regulate land, resources and governance in these areas to protect tribal rights and interests.

But now there is a fresh concern that the tribal-majority Bastar region is being positioned as a new investment hub. In efforts to industrialise Bastar, the government aims to improve

© The Wire