Gauhati HC Issues Notice To Assam Govt On Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary Denotification

Gauhati High Court issued notice on a PIL seeking to cancel decision to denotify Garbhanga wildlife sanctuary and sought Assam government's response within three weeks.

Guwahati:The Gauhati High Court has issued a notice to the Assam government to file an affidavit regarding its move to cancel a previous notification that declared 117 square kilometre area near Guwahati as the Garbhanga wildlife sanctuary.

The bench of the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court issued the notice to the state chief secretary, special chief secretary to the environment and forest department, district commissioner Kamrup and others while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Subrata Talukdar, a social activist. The court has asked the government to file the affidavit within three weeks.

In his PIL, Talukdar's counsel mentioned that the government of Assam on March 22, 2022 issued a preliminary notification, wherein an area spanning 117 sq kms was notified as Garbhanga wildlife sanctuary in Kamrup (M) district.

However, after around 17 months, the government took a U turn and cancelled the aforesaid preliminary notification on September 9 2023. The second notification cancelling the previous one was issued by the additional chief secretary to the government of Assam, environment and forests department.

The PIL argued that when a preliminary notification was issued notifying Garbhanga wildlife sanctuary, it attained the status of a protected area and any decision to reverse the status either through denotification or cancellation can be taken up only after approval from the National Board For Wild Life (NBWL), Talukdar's counsel said.

"Only the NBWL has the authority to cancel such a notification. However, the government without taking approval from the NBWL cancelled the notification that declared Garbhanga as a wildlife sanctuary. So we have appealed to the Gauhati High Court to intervene and ensure that Gabhanga continues to enjoy the wildlife sanctuary status," Talukdar told ETV Bharat.

He has alleged that the government decided to denotify Garbhanga for the benefit of the cement company, hotel lobby and others. If the area continues to be declared as a wildlife sanctuary it affects the interest of these cement companies and hotel lobbies," he said.

It may be mentioned here that Garbhanga area was declared a reserved forest in 1862 and the area is a biodiversity hotspot.

According to wildlife researcher Nilotpal Mahanta, Garbhanga wildlife sanctuary has Holoock gibbons, Hornbill, several cat species including leopards, and bear. He said that the sanctuary has also recorded the presence of over 309 species of birds and is a known destination for bird watchers.

The denotification of Garbhanga wildlife sanctuary has caught the BJP-led government in yet another controversy after it drew flake over its now abandoned move to construct a flyover between Dighalipukhuri to Noonmati area necessitating felling of over 25 century-old old trees.

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