Assam govt tells HC of wildlife sanctuary extension, eviction of encroachers

Assam govt tells HC of wildlife sanctuary extension, eviction of encroachers
SAMUDRA GUPTA KASHY

OCT 2: The Guwahati High Court has asked the government of Assam to take immediate steps to stop illegal felling of tress, begin plantation and afforestation and above all clear encroachment in forest areas so that flora and fauna are preserved. This order of the High Court was issued by a division bench of Chief Justice Brijesh Kumar and Justice N C Jain, while disposing off a petition filed by Bibhav Kumar Talukdar, a wildlife activist, on the basis of a report published in The Indian Express in March, 1993. Judges Kumar and Jain, who disposed off the petition filed seven years ago, also took note of the fact that while the international standard for minimum forest cover stood at 33.33 per cent, the Assam government in its reply had admitted that forest cover in the state stands at 30.4 per cent.

The High Court in its four-page order issued recently has also directed the Assam government to make up the shortfall in forest cover in order to take it up to the international standard.

The judges also took note of allegations that there were some attempts to settle people on forest land, and said that this must not be allowed as it is bound to affect forest cover and encourage illegal felling of trees.

The direction of the high court comes at a time when Union minister of state for forest and environment Babulal Marandi, on a visit to Assam this week, said that the seven North-Eastern states had lost 278 sq kms of forest cover in the last decade.

In Assam, while 243 sq kms of forest cover was lost in 1991-93, the loss in 1997-99 was 136 sq kms, Marandi told newsmen at Dibrugarh on Thursday. In contrats, Arunachal Pradesh has added 245 sq kms to its forest cover, followed by Tripura with 200 sq kms, in the past three years.

The Assam government, in its reply to the High Court, has said serious efforts are on to preserve existing forest cover as well as to increase it. One such effort reported to the High Court was the notification to extend the Nambor wildlife sanctuary in Upper Assam by another 37 sq kms.

The state government also told the High Court that steps have been taken to ensure that the Deepar Beel, a huge swamp on the western outskirts of Guwahati city, is cleared of encroachments.

The court in its order however has put it on record that Talukdar, the petitioner, was not satisfied with the efforts being taken by the state government. Talukdar is stated to have told the court that while steps are being taken, encroachment on forest land continues. Such encroachment causes illegal felling of trees as well as disturbance to wildlife, he said.

In a related incident, the state government has already cleared a major area close to the famous Kazhiranga National Park by evicting about 500 families who had encroached upon government land which was earmarked for extension of the park several years ago.