Four sightings of the endangered Jeypore Ground Gecko in the Balda hills of Odisha over the past year have intensified concerns over a proposed opencast bauxite mine in a forest landscape that is both ecologically significant and sacred to indigenous communities.
The gecko (Cyrtodactylus jeyporensis), a rare reptile with a restricted range in the northern Eastern Ghats, has been sighted in the hills in October 2025, March 2026, September 2026 and October 2026. The development raises questions about the potential impact of the project on a little-studied species whose specialised habitat comprises high-elevation forests, rocky outcrops and boulder crevices. “Based on my extensive field experience I strongly advise against the mining of bauxite in the Balda hills and insist on prioritising the conservation of biodiversity of the area, in particular the Jeypore Ground Gecko,” said Romulus Whitaker, herpetologist and Padma Shri awardee.
Calling the reptile a “flagship species of the area”, Whitaker warned that the proposed mining project “will most definitely see the end of the habitat of this important species, as well as others, including some yet undescribed.”
Ishan Agarwal, one of the Indian herpetologists who rediscovered the species in 2010, said it was added to Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act in 2022 and is listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
“It is an ecologically and biogeographical significant species having split from its closest relatives over 20 million years ago,” Agarwal said.
Originally described by British naturalist Richard Henry Beddome in 1878, the gecko was presumed extinct for about 130 years before its rediscovery in Koraput district. Its known range is confined to high-elevation forests and flat-topped plateaus surrounded by dense vegetation in parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
A nocturnal reptile, it shelters in boulder crevices, among twigs and in leaf litter. Very little is known about its behaviour, habitat requirements and life cycle, making further research and the protection of known habitats particularly important. The species is classified as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. The first locality where it was recorded, at Potangi in Odisha, has reportedly been lost to bauxite mining, with the gecko thought to have disappeared from that site.The proposed Ballada Bauxite Mine has a peak production capacity of four million tonnes per annum.
The environmental clearance issued by the Odisha State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) on September 1, 2025, covers a mining lease area of 144.945 hectares in the Nagasari reserve forest. The company’s final environmental impact assessment report says a site-specific wildlife conservation plan was approved by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Odisha, on June 4, 2024. The project documents provide for conservation funding of about Rs 4.58 crore.
A sacred landscape
The dispute extends beyond wildlife. The hills, locally known as Nageswari Mali Dongar, lie within the Nagasari reserve forest and are regarded as sacred by Parenga Paraja, Jhodia Paraja and Kondh communities, as well as traditional forest-dwelling groups including Mali, Rana, Gouda and Domb.
In an appeal filed before the National Green Tribunal’s Eastern Zone in Kolkata, Ajaya Muduli and other appellants have challenged the environmental clearance, arguing that the hill is inseparable from the religious practices, livelihoods and cultural identity of communities living around it.
