Raigarh. Vidhyawati Sidar, the Congress MLA from the Lailunga assembly constituency, has been arrested by the police for supporting villagers protesting against the felling of trees in and around Mudagaon. An industrialist has been allotted a coal mine in the area. For several days, thousands of trees have been cut down in the name of the mine, which the villagers are opposing.
The people of more than a dozen villages have been protesting against the deforestation in the area for the past month. Today morning, Lailunga Congress MLA Vidhyawati Sidar reached to support the villagers, and was subsequently arrested by the police. The villagers have protested against the MLA’s arrest.
Deforestation has begun in Mudagaon, Tamnar area, for a project of an industrial group. Hundreds of police personnel have been deployed for this work. Local villagers say that this area has dense forests and a biodiversity-rich forest area, which is not only important for environmental balance but also the basis of livelihood for the local tribal communities.
