Assam: Gauhati High Court halts Assam govt's move to denotify Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court issued a stay order on Friday, halting the Assam government's decision to denotify Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary, the state's only Ramsar site.

On March 10, the Assam Cabinet made a move to withdraw the notification issued by the State Forest Department, effectively removing Deepor Beel's protected status.

This decision was challenged in the High Court through an interlocutory application filed in the ongoing case "Pramod Kalita and two others Vs Union of India and 17 others."

A high court bench led by Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Suman Shyam issued a stay order, putting the denotification on hold.

“…once the notification declaring the Deepor Beel as Wildlife Century has been affirmed by the Division Bench of this Court and a SLP filed against the decision of the Division Bench is pending consideration in the Hon’ble Supreme Court, we are of the view that any decision to de-notify the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century is not warranted at this stage. Hence, we direct the State Government not to issue any notification de-notifying the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century,” the order read.

 Earlier on Wednesday (April 3), the Assam government, represented by Advocate General D Saikia, was directed to clarify through an affidavit whether any landfilling activities are currently underway within the Deepor Beel area.

This order would, however, be subject to any further order(s) passed by the
Supreme Court on the above subject, the order further said.

The PIL filed by Pramod Kalita and others raised concerns regarding the protection of Deepor Beel, including challenges related to illegal construction and waste management.

In December 2023, the Court had ordered the state government to declare Deepor Beel a wildlife sanctuary with an eco-sensitive zone by January 18, 2024.

The state initially assured the court that a draft notification was being prepared and would be submitted for cabinet approval within two weeks, followed by central government approval. However, their subsequent move to denotify the sanctuary contradicted these assurances.

This development comes shortly after the Supreme Court's intervention in March 2024, which halted the Assam government's attempt to denotify the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, a crucial habitat for one of the largest rhino populations in India.