New Delhi: The Supreme Court last week issued a stay on the decision of the Assam cabinet to “withdraw” a forest department notification that declared Pobitora as a wildlife sanctuary in 1998.
Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) lies on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Morigaon district. The sanctuary is a critical habitat for the one-horned Rhino, a protected species under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. According to a census in 2022, the rhino population in the sanctuary is 107.
On 13 March, a bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai issued the stay order while hearing a petition by environmental activist Rohit Choudhury. Choudhary petitioned the top court to issue a direction to the Assam government to demarcate the boundary of the wildlife sanctuary, according to the 1998 notification. The petition also asked for the removal of encroachments and a stop to illegal activities in the forest area.
Moreover, the petition sought the inclusion of the “khas land”, government-owned fallow land on which nobody has rights, in the notified sanctuary area as the 1998 notification indicated. The area around the sanctuary should be declared an eco-sensitive zone in compliance with SC directions in 2018, added the petition.
Choudhury moved the apex court on 24 April 2023, pointing out the failure of the Assam government to take steps to implement the 25-year-old notification on Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. After nearly a year, the Assam government last week submitted an affidavit to inform the top court about the state cabinet decision to withdraw the 1998 notification.
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‘Completely illegal’
According to the cabinet note in the Assam government affidavit, a meeting was held on 10 March to consider the state environment ministry’s proposal to take the notification back. The state ministry’s note on the proposal claimed the 1998 notification was not placed before the cabinet and issued without the then chief minister’s approval. The cabinet note also said the forest department had no jurisdiction over the government “khas land”, which was indicated as a part of the wildlife sanctuary in its 1998 notification.
According to the cabinet note, the rights of the people in villages within the sanctuary, including those residing there from before the notification came out, were not settled, and most belonged to deprived and marginalised communities.
“After due deliberation, the cabinet held the view that the notification constituting Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in 1998 should have been issued after due consultations with the other departments concerned and addressing the rights of all the affected people in a lawful and humanitarian manner,” the cabinet note said.
It also declared that those living in fringe villages should be treated as active partners and not as adversaries in an “insensitive manner”.
While the cabinet withdrew the notification, it also set up a five-member committee to examine the need to declare the Pobitora area as a wildlife sanctuary. The cabinet said such notification could be issued only after hearing the affected parties on their rights and claims, according to the requirements of law. The cabinet also fixed a six-month deadline for the committee to submit a report on the matter.
Advocate K. Parameshwar, who has been assisting the SC bench in forest-related matters, opposed the decision to withdraw the notification. He contended it was “completely illegal” because the law did not permit the state to denotify a forest area unilaterally. He submitted the state needed permissions from the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife and the top court for any such move.
The SC bench, taking note, put the cabinet’s decision on hold and even ordered the state to settle claims and rights of people under the law.
Besides, it sought a response from the Assam government on steps it has taken to mark the territory of the wildlife sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone.
‘No concrete steps’
Choudhury’s petition quoted a series of letters exchanged between various forest officials and the Morigaon district deputy commissioner to define the sanctuary’s boundary physically.
“The relevant authorities have not taken any steps to demarcate the boundary of the WLS despite being fully aware that they are departments under the same government which has issued the notification for the sanctuary and that their inaction in ensuring the protection of the entire notified area is leading to weakened and unsustainable management of rhino population in the sanctuary,” stated the petition.
The petition further said despite letters to the district administration to include the “khas land” within the sanctuary, it has failed to do so.
Even the forest department took no concrete steps to ensure the implementation of the 1998 notification, apart from writing letters and reiterating its requests, added the petition.
Choudhury pointed out that the state also did not comply with the top court’s 2018 direction under which the Union environment and forest ministry would have to declare 10 km of the area around the wildlife sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone.
Due to the non-demarcation of the boundary, the “khas land”, Choudhury said, is still inhabited by humans and does not come under the forest department’s jurisdiction. That has restricted the rhinos to a limited area in the sanctuary as they cannot move to higher grounds in the hill area. As a result, the rhinos take shelter in houses in nearby villages during floods.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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