Stop mining project in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve corridor, Aaditya Thackeray writes to Union Minister

Former State Environment Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray urged Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav to stop the “disastrous” mining project in Marki Mangli in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve corridor in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district.

Mr. Thackeray, on Thursday (January 22, 2026), wrote a letter to the Union Minister and asked him to intervene and cancel the approved mining projects in Lohardongari near the Ghodazari Wildlife Sanctuary and Marki-Mangli in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve corridor by the State Board for Wildlife.

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He highlighted that these projects are “detrimental” to both the forests they are in as well as the wildlife that inhabits these forests, asking to protect these forests and the inhabiting wildlife as per the mandate of the forest ministry.

“The expected output from these projects is relatively low compared to the unchecked ecological damage they will inflict. Furthermore, the prospective revenue they will generate for the state is minimal,” he stated in the letter.

He also pointed out the Opposition of certain members of the State Board for Wildlife to projects but overruled by the chair.

Taking to X, he said, “Back in 2020, as Minister for Environment and Climate Change (Maharashtra), I had denied permission to Marki Mangli in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve corridor.”

Meanwhile, Bandu Dhotre, the President Eco-Pro Organization, former-member SBWL, Maharashtra, has started a signature petition to stop the Lohardongari Mine and protect the Tadoba-Bramhapuri Tiger Corridor.

The petition urges local government, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), and environmental authorities to reconsider this proposal.

It says, “The project demands 35.94 hectares of Reserved Forest, involving the felling of 18,024 trees. The land is located in the Bramhapuri forest division, adjacent to the Ghodajhari Wildlife Sanctuary, serving as a crucial tiger corridor connecting the source population of tigers in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) to the Bramhapuri-Gadchiroli landscape and northern tiger-bearing forests.”