NGT seeks Assam govt’s response on schools, polling stations, tea gardens found inside forest land
Guwahati: According to a recent affidavit filed by the Assam government in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has stated that several schools, a road measuring five kilometres, a tea garden, wells and polling stations were found to be constructed within a wildlife sanctuary and nearby forest reserve in the state.
Recently, there was an order passed by the NGT that asked the chief secretary of Assam 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 NGT order passed on May 2 by judicial member, Justice B Amit Sthalekar and expert member Arun Kumar Verma, read.
The case NGT is referring to is an application which was filed by Dilip Nath with the tribunal last year alleging violations of the Forest (Conservation) Act at Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary (SRWS) in the Sonitpur district of Assam where large-scale construction activities have been done by government and illegal encroachments by others.
The Assam government last month filed an affidavit and said that several schools were functioning and indulging in non-forest activities inside SRWS and Charduar Reserve Forest (CRF).
It is further mentioned that a first information report (FIR) against the management committees of these schools has been registered by the local forest authorities.
The affidavit goes on to say that the state irrigation department was constructing a sluice gate on the Siloni River inside CRF in violation of rules.
Moreover, an individual even started a tea garden inside the same reserve forest.
To add to this a contractor had even constructed a five-km-long road inside SRWS in violation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and Forest (Conservation) Act and an FIR has been registered against him.
The NGT had earlier stated that “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 tribunal has now directed the Union Environment, Forests and Climate Change Ministry to file a counter affidavit within the next four weeks mentioning action taken against officers who allowed the illegal constructions and steps taken to remove them.
Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has sought a report from the Assam government regarding the alleged diversion of forest land in Sivasagar district along the Assam-Nagaland border.
In a letter dated April 25, 2024, addressed to Assam’s Additional Chief Secretary (Forests), Suneet Bhardwaj, Assistant Inspector General of Forests at MoEF&CC, has requested a detailed factual report on the alleged illegal clearing of 28 hectares of land within Geleky Reserve Forest in Sivasagar district for setting up a commando battalion camp.
The Ministry has also directed both the MoEF&CC’s regional office in Shillong and the sub-office in Guwahati to coordinate with the Assam government and provide the requisite information with comments at the earliest.