Probe into digging, construction activities on Kaziranga animal corridors (State of Assam, India)
Probe into digging, construction activities on Kaziranga animal corridors
(State of Assam, India)
Rahul Karmakar, The Hindu
May 8, 2021
The authorities in Assam’s Golaghat and Nagaon districts have begun probing
cases of clearance of forest land, digging and construction activities on
at least three animal corridors within the eco-sensitive zone of the
Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
These two districts share large swathes of the 1,300-sq. km. tiger reserve
that has nine identified animal corridors. Seven of these — Amguri, Bagori,
Chirang, Deosur, Harmati, Hatidandi and Kanchanjuri — are in Nagaon
district while Haldibari and Panbari corridors are in Golaghat district.
Crucial for Animals
These corridors are crucial for the rhinos, elephants, tigers, deer and
other animals that escape a flooded Kaziranga during the monsoon months for
the safety of the hills of Karbi Anglong district beyond the highway
skirting the southern boundary of the tiger reserve.
Tiger reserve’s director P. Sivakumar said he had prior to the Assembly
elections in March-April written to the Golaghat district authorities
underlining some construction activities on the Haldibari corridor.
“We had a joint inspection with officials of the Revenue Department two
days ago and found three violations on the corridor, including expansion by
a resort. Further action will be taken in the coming days,” he told The
Hindu on Saturday.
A bid to construct a permanent stage for religious activities was stopped a
couple of months ago in a tea estate on the Panbari animal corridor,
officials said.
But the most blatant violation has been on the Kanchanjuri animal corridor
in Nagaon district. A patch of forest land has been cleared and a section
of a tea plantation dug up apparently for a water reservoir, wildlife
activists in the area said.
This has been happening over the past few days in plain view beside the
highway. The activities are barely 50 metres from where a structure linked
to the local MLA came up a year ago.
Supreme Court’s Order Violated
Rohit Choudhury, a green activist based in Bokakhat (headquarters of
Kaziranga), lodged an FIR at the Jakhalabandha police station in Nagaon
district on May 7 with photographs of these activities. He said these
activities violated the Supreme Court’s order on April 4, 2019. The order
said: “No new construction shall be permitted on private lands which form
part of the nine identified animal corridors.”
Mrinmoy Das, Nagaon’s DSP, said they have treated the FIR as a piece of
information and would be seeking replies from the Forest and Revenue
Departments concerned.
“There are no legal provisions for registering a case if a member of the
public complains about contempt of court unless the court itself or the
government files an FIR. We can act when the departments involved give us
the feedback and seek action,” he said.