Supreme Court questions Assam government on Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary boundary demarcation time frame

Expressing surprise that demarcation of the boundary of Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has not been carried out even after 25 years, the Supreme Court has asked the Assam government to inform it how much time would it take to complete the process.

A three-judge bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sandeep Nath asked the state government to consider the issue with urgency and warned that any failure to do so would entail serious consequences.

“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,” the bench said.

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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.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by environmental activist Rohit Choudhury, seeking directions to precisely demarcate the boundary of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary without any further delay.

The petition contended that the boundary of the sanctuary notified in 1998 under the Wildlife Protection Act is yet to be precisely marked and the control of a part of the sanctuary area, the Khas land (government-controlled land), is yet to be handed over to the Forest department by the district administration.

The petition alleged 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.