Mahan has the proud reputation of being one of the oldest sal forests in India. That may soon become history. Coal, the black gold, has been discovered under its lustrous trees. Mahan, in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh, is now at the heart of the ongoing controversy about forest people, forestland and what lies beneath. In energy and mining books, Mahan is recognised as a ‘coal block’ and everything else that the forest stands to lose is considered less significant for the country’s decision makers today.The coal underneath this segment of the forest is to. . .
