Summary
The Jeypore ground gecko, an endangered reptile endemic to high-elevation forests of the Eastern Ghats, was rediscovered in 2010 after about 130 years. Only four individuals were documented in Odisha's Balda hills over the past year, as reported and the site lies within a proposed bauxite mine of Kalinga Alumina, an Adani Group subsidiary, in the Nageswari forest reserve.
The project received Stage-I forest clearance in December 2024. Villagers now allege that the Gram Sabha resolutions consenting to the diversion of forest land were forged. For a species with little public profile, the integrity of community consent under the Forest Rights Act may be its most effective protection.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR UPSC & STATE PCS
A report published on 15 October 2026 documented only four Jeypore ground geckos in the Balda hills over the past year, at a site falling within the proposed Balda Hill bauxite mine of Kalinga Alumina, an Adani Group subsidiary.
Villagers of Balda and Banur in Koraput district allege that the Gram Sabha resolutions clearing the forest diversion, from meetings purportedly held on 9 October 2025, were obtained through forged signatures. The species' original type locality at Potangi has already been lost to bauxite mining.
Standard News
WHEN A SPECIES HAS NO CONSTITUENCY, CONSENT BECOMES ITS LAST DEFENCE
Start with what the State has formally committed to. The Jeypore ground gecko is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Since CoP19 in 2022, it has been on CITES Appendix II, which regulates international trade in it.
Neither commitment protects a single square metre of its habitat. Now the data. The gecko lives only in high-elevation forests of the Eastern Ghats, between 900 and 1,400 metres. It has already lost its type locality, Potangi in Odisha, to bauxite mining by NALCO and is believed extinct there.
Over the past year, as reported, only four individuals were documented in the Balda hills of Koraput district, a site that falls within a proposed bauxite mine.
Where the
chain breaks The failure is not one of knowledge. Scientists know where the gecko lives and what threatens it: coffee cultivation, hydel projects and mining. It split from its closest relatives more than 20 million years ago and remains poorly understood.
The failure is in which law actually decides land use. Species protection works best for animals with public pull. A tiger can stop a road. A gecko the size of a hand rarely makes it into the clearance file. In practice, habitat for such species is decided through forest clearance and community consent, not through wildlife law.
That is where the Forest Rights Act, 2006 matters. It gives Gram Sabhas the power to protect community forest resources. In the Niyamgiri judgment of 2013, the Supreme Court held that Gram Sabhas had the right to safeguard their habitat and cultural rights and the 12 Dongria Kondh Gram Sabhas then rejected Vedanta's bauxite project.
The
Balda test Kalinga Alumina, an Adani Group subsidiary, received Stage-I forest clearance for the Balda Hill bauxite project in the Nageswari forest reserve in December 2024. The clearance relied on Gram Sabha consent from meetings purportedly held on 9 October 2025 in Balda and Banur villages. Villagers now allege that those resolutions were obtained through forged signatures.
What is
working The architecture exists and has worked before. Niyamgiri showed that Gram Sabhas can stop a mine. The rediscovery of the gecko in 2010 and its CITES listing show that science and international law are paying attention. Records also show forest rights claims of five villages around Balda Hill were approved during the clearance process, which means community rights are formally recognised on the ground.
Why this matters Odisha holds about 53% of India's bauxite reserves and demand for aluminium is rising with EVs and grid expansion.
The pressure on the Eastern Ghats will grow. For the exam, the insight is precise: for species without a public constituency, conservation depends less on how the animal is listed than on whether the consent process for its forest is genuine.
Quick Facts
Key numbers & takeaways — revise these first
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The Jeypore ground gecko (Cyrtodactylus jeyporensis) is endemic to the Eastern Ghats of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
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It was presumed extinct for about 130 years until it was rediscovered in 2010.
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It was first described by the British naturalist Richard Henry Beddome.
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Herpetologists Ishan Agarwal and Aniruddha Datta-Roy rediscovered it in 2010 in Koraput district, Odisha.
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It lives only in high-elevation forests between 900 and 1,400 metres.
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It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and was included in CITES Appendix II at CoP19 in 2022.
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Its original habitat at Potangi has been lost to bauxite mining by NALCO.
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Odisha holds about 53% of India's bauxite reserves.
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Kalinga Alumina received Stage-I forest clearance for the Balda Hill bauxite project in December 2024.
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The Supreme Court's Niyamgiri judgment (2013) required Gram Sabha consent before mining in forested tribal homelands.
Connect the dots for your UPSC preparation.
Standard news covers the event. Log in to read our comprehensive analysis and uncover the hidden constitutional, structural, and ethical dimensions of this topic:
A full diagnosis of the clearance chain, from IUCN and CITES listing to Stage-I clearance and Gram Sabha resolutions and where it breaks
Why Potangi's loss to NALCO mining is the warning case for Balda and what the 20-million-year evolutionary split means for conservation value
How the Niyamgiri model can be applied to verify consent and its limits where rights claims are approved but consent is disputed
A short-term and long-term agenda balancing India's bauxite needs with Eastern Ghats endemism
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