Guwahati: Mining and quarrying activities continue at Parkup Pahar along the southern boundary of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam despite an explicit Supreme Court prohibition and repeated interventions by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), raising fresh concerns over the protection of wildlife corridors connecting Kaziranga with the Karbi Anglong hills.
Environmental activist Rohit Choudhury has now written to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, seeking urgent intervention to stop the ongoing mining activities in the Parkup Pahar Range, which falls within the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve.
In his letter, Choudhury alleged that the Government of Assam has failed to implement the Supreme Court’s directions despite repeated reminders from the CEC and continuing reports of mining-related destruction in the area. He urged the Union Environment Ministry to ensure compliance with the court’s order and direct the immediate cessation of mining activities.
The renewed appeal comes against the backdrop of fresh evidence of quarrying in the Parkup Pahar area. Satellite imagery shows extensive mining and quarrying operations in the peripheral areas of Kaziranga, with large-scale movement of stone-laden trucks.
The issue had earlier been examined by the CEC, which submitted a detailed report on an application seeking an immediate halt to mining in the Parkup Pahar Range. In its report dated May 30, 2025, the committee highlighted continued violations of the Supreme Court’s April 12, 2019, order and called for strict compliance by the Assam government.
The Supreme Court had directed that all forms of mining and related activities along the Kaziranga National Park area and throughout the catchment areas of rivers, streams and rivulets originating in the Karbi Anglong hills and flowing into Kaziranga, including the Tiger Reserve, be restrained. It had also directed the Assam Director General of Police (DGP) and the concerned Superintendents of Police (SP) to ensure that no illegal mining or transportation of illegally mined materials took place in the area.
However, the CEC’s May 2025 report noted that some illegal mines appeared to have resumed operations and that suitable action was not being taken to stop them. The committee also pointed out that mining leases falling within the draft Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of Kaziranga should have been cancelled rather than merely suspended.
The report further recorded the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council’s submission that ten stone quarries located within ten km of Kaziranga and four quarries near Borjuri Waterfall had been suspended. The Council also referred to pending legal proceedings in two cases and said it was awaiting the finalised ESZ boundary proposal from the Assam government.
A significant concern emerged during a CEC meeting on May 9, 2025, when an order of the Gauhati High Court dated May 5, 2025, allowing mining in two cases was submitted. The CEC observed that the High Court had not been apprised of the Supreme Court’s April 12, 2019, directions restraining mining in the Kaziranga area and the catchment zones.
In its recommendations, the CEC called for police authorities to prevent illegal mining and transportation of illegally mined materials. It also directed the KAAC to prepare a comprehensive watershed drainage analysis identifying all areas draining into Kaziranga and submit it by October 2025. No new mining settlement, lease or permit was to be issued in these areas until the watershed boundaries were scientifically delineated and verified.
The committee also sought quarterly status reports on action taken against reported violations.
The CEC reiterated its concerns in a subsequent communication dated March 5, 2026, addressed to the Chief Secretary of Assam. It observed that the issue had repeatedly remained unaddressed despite earlier interventions and meetings with state government and KAAC officials.
The committee noted that even after more than six years, the identification of catchment areas of rivers and streams originating in the Karbi Anglong hills remained incomplete. The situation was similar with regard to the notification of the nine identified animal corridors. It also recalled that the CEC had sought details of action taken to notify the corridors in a letter dated May 6, 2021, but had received no response from the Assam government.
The March 2026 communication also referred to a report from the Divisional Forest Officer, Karbi Anglong East Division, stating that both sides of Borjuri Stream and the Borjuri Proposed Reserve Forest formed part of the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve, notified by the Assam government on April 17, 2003.
The CEC questioned why mining leases had been sanctioned in the first place, even though some leases around Borjuri had subsequently been suspended or cancelled. It further observed that no wildlife management plan incorporating measures to mitigate damage to wildlife was in place.
The committee asked the Assam government to implement its earlier recommendations, notify the nine animal corridors and commission the Wildlife Institute of India to prepare a comprehensive wildlife management plan for Karbi Anglong. It also stressed that no fresh mining leases should be sanctioned or suspended leases revoked until the management plan was prepared and the relevant watershed boundaries scientifically delineated and verified.
Concerns over wildlife corridors
The potential ecological consequences of mining in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape had also been documented by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in its report dated April 20, 2018.
Following a field inspection, the NTCA concluded that stone mining, quarrying and crusher units in the intervening areas between Kaziranga and the Karbi Anglong hills were destroying wildlife corridors and critical habitats used by long-ranging species such as elephants and tigers.
The report also attributed the drying up and siltation of several natural streams and rivulets flowing from the Karbi Anglong hills towards Kaziranga to mining and quarrying activities.
Warning that continued destruction could permanently sever Kaziranga’s corridor and habitat connectivity with the larger Karbi Anglong landscape, the NTCA recommended the immediate closure of all mining, quarrying and stone-crushing units in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape.
Choudhury, in his latest communication, has urged the Union Environment Minister to ensure strict implementation of the Supreme Court’s April 12, 2019, order, halt all ongoing mining activities in Parkup Pahar and adjoining areas, expedite notification of the nine animal corridors and direct the preparation of a comprehensive wildlife management plan for Karbi Anglong.
He has also sought the Centre’s intervention to ensure that the ecological connectivity between Kaziranga and the Karbi Anglong hills is protected.