We are back with another edition packed with insightful stories, investigative reports and updates!

Earlier this month, our Climate Change Research Lead Mrinali K wrote about the intensely-debated issue of adaptation for Frontline Magazine. Drawing from her coverage of COP28 in Dubai last December, she explains the history behind climate adaptation, which means making adjustments to existing systems to deal with the adverse effects of climate change. Despite being recognized as a significant pillar of climate action since 1992, the importance of adaptation efforts have been diminished by rich countries in recent climate talks. Read how developing countries are fighting back for the adaptation targets in Mrinali’s piece.
 
Closer home, India’s Just Transition framework to shift away from fossil fuels to clean energy, was pioneered by Jharkhand in 2022. However, our Writing Fellow Sukriti Vats’s report for IndiaSpend reveals that the state has opened more coal mines, without shutting down the old ones. The question of giving land back to communities to undo historic wrongs, remains unanswered as the exhausted coal mines have not been returned even to the state. Read the full report to know more about the concerns surrounding the Jharkhand government's pursuit of clean energy.

And our contributor Rayan Naqash does a deep dive into the aftermath of the repealed Roshni Act in Jammu & Kashmir, which had regularised the occupation of state lands by landless people. He highlights how the evictions disproportionately affect Muslim families and small landholders, as opposed to wealthy and influential beneficiaries of the Roshni Act, fueling concerns of discrimination and human rights violations. Rayan’s report for Himal SouthAsian analyses recent demolitions in the last two years, revealing the uncertainty and fear among locals facing potential dispossession, with limited legal recourse against the administration's actions.

New in our Database

We currently have 758 ongoing conflicts documented in the LCW database. Last month, our team of researchers added nine new conflicts and four updates in old conflicts listed below:

1. In the midst of protests over the demolition of a mosque and madrasa, six people were killed and many injured in retaliatory police firing in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. Our Communication Officer Nayla Khwaja breaks down the larger land conflict that surrounds this violence. You can also read the conflict summary by our researcher Chicu Lokgariwar.
2. Farmers in Doiwala, near Dehradun, are protesting a proposed "aerocity" project requiring land acquisition, reports Chicu. While the local MLA denies speculations to take over farmers’ land, uncertainty persists among farmers as Uttarakhand's Chief Minister has not issued any statement supporting the denial.
3. Researcher Viswanathan Sridhar documented how one of the largest solar power plants built by Adani in Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu, faced opposition from locals over faulty job promises and environmental concerns. Our Writing Fellow Sukriti Vats also reported on another conflict surrounding the Adani solar plant in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Concerns raised by residents of Bhimsar village include the threat posed by the project to the farms, ponds and sacred groves in the area.
4. In Arunachal Pradesh, the indigenous Idu Mishmis continue to oppose the union government's proposal to designate an existing wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve, fearing further restrictions on their rights, reported East Street Journal Asia.
5. Guwahati residents oppose construction of Assam's longest flyover connecting Dighalipukhuri with Noonmati. Our researcher Sarup Sinha explains their concerns about lack of public consultation, traffic disruptions, and potential negative impacts on businesses and the environment.
6. From Uttar Pradesh, our researcher Saumya Srivastava reports on ongoing protests by farmers in Noida against a proposed power station by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). Saumya also covers similar protests in Mandola against a proposed township. Both conflicts include a demand for more compensation for land acquired under land acquisition law of 1894.
7. The Jammu and Kashmir government's plan to build a transit camp for migrants in Kupwara poses livelihood challenges in the area. Our researcher Mir Aiyaz reports the conflict as the plan faces opposition from the locals.
   

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Fresh updates in ongoing conflicts

1. Denied entry into Little Rann of Kutch, Agariyas of Gujarat's Patan cry foul over discrimination in granting permits to enter the protected area for salt farming, reports Suchak Patel, our researcher from Gujarat.
2. Our Uttarakhand researcher Chicu Lokgariwar reports that the state government had proposed an elephant corridor in Bindukhatta forest without granting its residents promised land-ownership rights. This has sparked protests by residents fearing eviction and demanding revenue-village status as they do not have any individual land ownership on registry papers. She also reports that the Boxa tribe displaced by Haripura Dam in Uttarakhand fears eviction; farmers with land titles refused compensation and instead demanded alternative land, while those without titles were displaced without any compensation.
3. Our researcher Nayantara Lakshman reports a clash between the forest officials and farmers over a piece of land in Tumkur, Karnataka, which was taken away from the farmers through a policy of reclaiming encroached govt lands. The farmers have been demanding legal title to their cultivated plots.

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Identifying forests

By Priyansha Chouhan

On February 19, the Supreme Court held that forests falling within the ‘broad and all encompassing’ dictionary definition, should be identified and notified by the state governments. Additionally, the central government was directed to publish the identified forests by April 15. This ruling has a huge impact because it protects the unrecorded and deemed forests, which were exposed to diversion because of the amendment to Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Experts fear that the amendment restricted the ambit of the Forest Conservation Act only to the forests explicitly recognised by the states.
 
This order also attempts to restore the ‘dictionary definition’ of forests as given in the landmark judgment of T.N. Godavarman. In this case, the Apex court had also directed setting up of the State Expert Committees (SECs) to identify forests by following this ‘definition’. But the status and progress of these SEC reports remains unknown to this day. 
This ruling was given in the case which challenged the constitutional validity of the Forest Conservation Amendment Act, 2023, which came into force on December 1, 2023.

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Editors,
Nayla Khwaja, Communication Officer