Guwahati: Environmental activist Dilip Nath from Dhekiajuli has sought the urgent intervention of President Droupadi Murmu following the Assam government’s decision to incorporate 18 forest villages—located within the protected Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary—into the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
The move, Nath claims, undermines an ongoing case in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and legalizes longstanding illegal encroachments.
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Nath, in a detailed letter to the President, criticized the June 23, 2025 inclusion notification as “an illegal and arbitrary act” that “renders the legalisation of illegal encroachments in Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary.”
He pointed out that this decision comes even as the NGT, Eastern Zone Bench in Kolkata, continues to hear his petition filed on September 20, 2023, regarding violations of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 in the sanctuary.
In his NGT petition, Nath alleged that the Assam government facilitated encroachments by building roads, bridges, schools, and public infrastructure within the sanctuary.
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He warned that such activities have led to deforestation, environmental degradation, and escalating human-wildlife conflict.
The NGT took cognizance of the complaint and issued notices to key state officials, including the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Member Secretary of Environment and Forest, the DC of Sonitpur, and others.
A crucial affidavit submitted on August 21, 2024, by the PCCF admitted that nearly 300,000 people had encroached upon forest lands, cutting down lowland evergreen forests to build permanent settlements and grow commercial crops like betel nut, coconut, rubber, and tea.
Reports indicate that locals have filed over 23,000 claims under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, in Charduar, Balipara, and Sonai Rupai forest areas. Authorities found about 50,241 hectares of the total 73,525 hectares of forest land under encroachment.
The NGT has repeatedly directed the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the Chief Secretary of Assam to file comprehensive affidavits and outline concrete action. However, according to tribunal observations:
The affidavit filed by MoEF&CC on November 4, 2024, was “silent” on key issues.
The Chief Secretary’s affidavit filed on August 20, 2024, failed to clarify state action on encroachments and the status of the resettlement plan.
The Forest Department has not acted upon its draft resettlement and rehabilitation plan, which was due in September 2024.
The NGT has also raised concerns about the lack of accountability for PWD officials accused of constructing a 5 km5 km road inside the sanctuary. It noted discrepancies and omissions in multiple affidavits and demanded a complete update from the Assam government by July 16, 2025.
Despite the ongoing legal process, the Assam government, through a final delimitation order issued on June 23, 2025, added 81 new villages to the BTC, with 18 of these, including Arlilaga, Satai, Sapai, Rowmari, and Jhargaon Batachipur, located within the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kalamati and Dhekiajuli forest ranges.
Nath highlighted that the government pushed this expansion forward despite public objections, formalizing it through a series of notifications between December 2022 and September 2024.
He criticized the move as a politically motivated act intended to legalize encroachments for electoral gains.
In his letter to the President, Nath wrote: “I have been fighting against illegal encroachments in Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary for over a decade… The Assam government has used its might to legalize the encroachments through development schemes and polling setups for political advantage, violating the laws meant to protect our forests.”
He urged the President to impose sanctions against the Assam government and nullify the decision to include the 18 villages in the BTC, calling it a clear contempt of legal and environmental mandates.
The NGT is scheduled to hear the matter again on July 16, 2025, where it may take further steps based on the state’s responses and actions—or lack thereof.