Dehing Patkai: Coal mining clearance draws flak from civil societies

Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia Districts of Assam and covers an area of 111.19 km2 (42.93 sq mi) rainforest. The tropical wet evergreen forest consists of three parts: Jeypore, upper Dihing River, and Dirok rainforest. It was declared a sanctuary on 13 June 2004. This sanctuary is also a part of the Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve. The rainforest stretches for more than 575 km2 (222 sq mi) in the districts of Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, and Sivasagar.

A part of the forest was declared as a wildlife sanctuary by the Government of Assam, while another part falls under the Dibru-Deomali Elephant Reserve. The forest further spreads over in the Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The Dehing Patkai forms the largest stretch of tropical lowland rainforests in India

The Controversy

Amid the nationwide lockdown in the wake of Covid19 pandemic, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) in its 56th meeting on 7th April, 2020 through video conferencing under the chair of Prakash Javedekar, the chairman of NBWL and Minister of Forest, Environment and Climate of India approved a coal mining project in the Saleki Proposed Reserve Forest, which is a part of Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. The NBWL's standing committee had discussed the proposal for use of 98.59 hectares of land of Saleki, proposed for a coal mining project by North Eastern Coal Field ( NECF ) — a unit of Coal India Limited— and gave nod to it. The NBWL is under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

Also read: Assam: Illegal coal trade continues in Margherita

Earlier, the NBWL in its 54th meeting also constituted a panel with Prof R Sukumar, a member of NBWL as its head to visit the proposed Lekhapani Open Cast Project under the Lekhapani Range of Digboi Forest Division in Tinsukia district. As per the report submitted by the panel, the Standing Committee of NBWL recommended the proposal for the broken up area (57.20 hectares) for approval subject to the submission of a rectified site-specific mine reclamation plan in consultation with the Forest Department of Assam. On the other hand, for the unbroken area (41.39 hectares), the NBWL will consider the matter after the User Agency submits a feasibility report for underground mining and compliance reports regarding the fulfillment of all other conditions recommended by the NBWL.

The fallout

Following the move, the environmentalists, civil societies and student communities have vehemently opposed the decicision to approve the coal mining site in the area.

The region is home to hoolock gibbon, slow loris, pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque, capped langur, Asian elephant, Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, gaur, Chinese pangolin, Himalayan black bear, Himalayan squirrel, leopard cat, clouded leopard, porcupine, crab eating mongoose, sambar, sun bear, binturong, barking deer, golden cat and marbled cat are just a few of the animal species living here.

The Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve also hosts about 293 different species of birds, including slender-billed vulture, white-winged duck, greater adjutant, lesser adjutant, greater spotted eagle, beautiful nuthatch, marsh babbler, tawny-breasted wren-babbler, yellow-vented warbler, broad-billed warbler, white-naped yuhina, white-cheeked partridge, great hornbill, brown hornbill, Oriental darter and painted stork, osprey, kalij pheasant, grey peacock pheasant, besra, black baza and hill myna. The most common reptiles found here are rock python, king cobra, Asian leaf turtle, monitor lizard.

Thus, it makes the ecology of the area. As for rehabilitation plans, environmentalists are also concerned regarding the issue. "You cannot rehabilitate a slow loris. These can survive in specific conditions and need to co-exist with the local habitat", said Kishore Mech, additional secy of Sanjeevani wildlife conservation NGO. Coal India has a bad reputation when it comes to replenishing projects. "Look at what they have done with their other projects. Have they replanted anything there?".

There also instances of man-animal conflict due to deforestation associated with these areas. "There is no place for animals to live in. The habitat is completely getting destroyed and that's why the animals are attacking the villages", said Romesh Hatimuriya, another environmentalist if the region.

The campaign

There have been protests going about in areas nearby Margherita. Hashtags like #Save_Dehing_Patkai, #Stop_Coal_Mining, #Save_Amazon_Of_The_East, #Save_Nature, #Save_World have trended. People from different walks of life and celebrities have tweeted regarding the issue. The students of Guwahati University and NERIM have all showed solidarity in the matter.

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