April 16, 2026
Protests Halt an Iron Ore Mine That Would Have Split a Tiger Corridor
The Maharashtra government has temporarily stopped a mining project in Chandrapur. The site sits inside a critical wildlife corridor in a region that already has India's worst human-tiger conflict numbers. But this is a temporary halt and not a permanent cancellation.
Image by A G on Unsplash
What's happening?
After weeks of hunger strikes and protests, the Maharashtra government temporarily halted the Lohardongri iron ore mining project in Chandrapur's Bramhapuri forest division. The project was allotted to Sunflag Iron and Steel, which would have cleared up to 18,000 trees across 36 hectares of forest.
Most critically, the site lies inside a critical wildlife corridor connecting the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) to forests in Gadchiroli, Nawegaon-Nagzira, and Chhattisgarh — one of the last intact passages tigers use to disperse, find mates, and survive.
Why should you care?
Tadoba already has an overflow problem. With around 150 tigers — well above its official capacity — dispersing animals increasingly push into human settlements. Chandrapur recorded 111 human deaths from tiger attacks in 2022–23 alone. Removing forest in a dispersal corridor would push that number higher.
The proposed fix doesn't work. Planting trees in Yavatmal, hundreds of kilometres away, doesn't replace old-growth forest and doesn't replace the tiger habitat and corridor.
"Temporary halt" is not "cancelled." The halt came under public pressure, not a legal ruling. Without formal rejection, the project can be revived.