Jorhat: A group of residents from Nagaland’s Mokokchung district staged a protest on Friday against a site inspection conducted by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) in the Dishoi Valley reserve forest in Assam’s Jorhat district.
The inspection aimed to assess the feasibility of oil and gas exploration in the eco-sensitive zone of the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary.
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The NBWL committee, comprising representatives from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the Wildlife Institute of India (WTI), the Assam Principal Conservator of Forest (PCCF), and wildlife scientist Raman Sukumar, visited the site to determine whether the project could proceed.
In October, the NBWL deferred its approval of Cairn Oil and Gas’s proposal for oil exploration in the sanctuary, which is the primary habitat of the endangered Hoolock Gibbon.
Approximately 60 individuals, hailing from Nagaland’s Mokokchung district, converged at the Dishoi Valley Reserve Forest, vociferously opposing the site inspection.
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Chanting slogans and asserting territorial claims, the protesters contended that the disputed land rightfully belonged to Nagaland. They emphasized that the matter was currently sub judice in the Supreme Court, and any activities within the disputed area should be suspended until a final verdict was delivered by the apex court.
In August, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the MoEFCC had granted in-principle approval to Vedanta‘s proposal, which aims to explore oil and gas across 4.49 hectares within the sanctuary’s eco-sensitive zone.
Environmentalists and conservationists have expressed deep concern over the potential impact of oil exploration on the fragile ecosystem of the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary and its unique biodiversity.