Supreme Court reprimands Assam govt over Pobitora boundary delays

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has pulled up the Assam government for its failure to demarcate the boundary of Pobitora wildlife sanctuary.

A bench of the Supreme Court, Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sandeep Nath on Monday expressed surprise after learning that demarcation of the boundary of the sanctuary has not been carried out even after 25 years.

The bench directed the Assam government to apprise it how much time would it take to complete the process of demarcation of the boundary of Pobitora wildlife sanctuary.

The court asked the Assam government asked to consider the issue with urgency and warned that any failure to do so would entail serious consequences.

The sanctuary, located on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra in Assam’s Morigaon district, covers around 38.85 km area and provided grassland and wetland habitat for the Indian rhinoceros.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by environmental activist Rohit Choudhury, alleging that the authorities have taken no effective measures to declare the area around the sanctuary an eco-sensitive zone in blatant disregard for a Supreme Court order dated December 11, 2018.

“Nalin Kohli, counsel appearing for the state seeks two weeks’ time to make a statement as to in how much time the actual demarcation of the boundary of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, as per Notification dated March 17, 1998, would be completed.

“It is really surprising that though the wildlife sanctuary was notified in the year 1998, for a period of 25 years even the boundaries are not demarcated. We hope that the state will consider the issue with the urgency that it requires. We may put the state on notice that the failure to do so would entail serious consequences,” it said.

The top court had earlier given the Assam government a last chance to file the affidavit and granted it four weeks for the same. However, the state failed to do so.