NGT seeks Assam govt’s reply on encroachments made inside forest land
STATE ASKED TO FILE AN AFFIDAVIT GIVING DETAILS OF OFFICERS WHO “PERMITTED SUCH EXTENSIVE CONSTRUCTION”
GUWAHATI: Several schools, a 5-km-long road, a sluice gate on a river, a tea garden, multiple wells and even polling stations have come up inside a wildlife sanctuary and a nearby forest reserve in Assam, according to an affidavit filed by the state government before the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The NGT, in an order passed on May 2, has asked Assam chief secretary Ravi Kota to file an affidavit giving details of officers who “permitted such extensive construction” in “gross violation” of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
“The affidavit must also explain the inaction of the principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) under whose very nose such illegal activities were allowed to go on since 2017,” the tribunal’s order by justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) read.
The order came on an application filed in September last year by Dilip Nath, a resident of Assam, claiming that largescale construction activities were done by the government and illegal encroachments by others at the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary (SRWS) in Sonitpur district in violation of the forest conservation law.
The Assam government, in an affidavit filed in April, apprised the NGT that several schools were “functioning and indulging in non-forest activities” inside SRWS and Charduar reserve forest (CRF).
It also mentioned that local authorities have registered a first information report (FIR) against the management committees of these schools.
The NGT order noted that the affidavit mentioned that the state irrigation department was constructing a sluice gate on the Siloni river inside CRF without proper clearance from authorities while a private individual had started a tea garden inside the same reserve forest.
The state further apprised the tribunal that a 5-km-long road was constructed inside SRWS in violations of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and Forest (Conservation) Act and added that an FIR has been registered against the contractor.
Several polling stations under Dhekhijuli, Sootea and Rangapara assembly segments were also set up inside the SRWS and the state public health engineering (PHE) department had installed ring wells in the wildlife sanctuary, the affidavit added.
In its order, the NGT noted that while the affidavit carried details of illegal activities inside the wildlife sanctuary and forest reserves, there was no mention of actions taken to remove encroachments and constructions. “Whether it has been dismantled and forest restored has not been stated for reasons best known to the joint secretary, who has filed the affidavit,” the order read.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on July 3.
Located on the foothills of the Himalayas near the AssamArunachal Pradesh border, SRWS is sprawled over 220 sq km and is home to a variety of mammals, birds and reptiles, including tigers, elephants, hornbills, pelicans and pythons. The Charduar Reserve Forest is located close to it.
The NGT has also directed the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) to file a counter affidavit within four weeks, mentioning action taken against officers who allowed the illegal constructions and steps taken to remove them.
While the present application is about violations inside SRWS and CRF, there have been other instances of illegal constructions inside protected forests in Assam which have hit headlines in recent months.
Last month, the Union environment ministry wrote a letter to the Assam government seeking a report on alleged illegal diversion of 28 hectares of land inside the Geleky reserve forest near Assam-Nagaland border for the construction of a police battalion camp.
The ministry had referred to a report published by HT an April 25 on how MK Yadava, the former PCCF who is now the special chief secretary (forest) in Assam, approved construction of a commando battalion unit last year inside a protected forest at Hailakandi near the Assam-Mizoram border by diverting 44 hectares of forest land.