ITANAGAR: All construction activities in the Manabhum reserve forest and the Namsai reserve forest areas in Namsai district of Arunachal Pradesh has been halted.
This has been done under the initiative of Kolkata based eastern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The NGT issued the interim order based on a complaint filed by James Teli Camder and Tongam Jomoh against the MoEF&CC and others, alleging that construction activities are taking place within the reserved forest areas.
The court has listed the case on April 19.
Also read: Assam-Arunachal border row: Namsai declaration is ‘historic’, says CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The respondents have been asked to file their counter-affidavits within four weeks.
The complainants have alleged that “19.5 hectares of forest land have been encroached in Tengapani area for the construction of the Golden Pagoda and a meditation centre, while 2.5 hectares of forest land of Namsai reserved forest have been encroached on for the construction of the mini-secretariat building in Namsai.”
Also read: Bid to resolve Assam- Arunachal decade-old border dispute, 2 states sign pact at Namsai
They further alleged that five hectares of forest land of Manabhum reserve forest in Lathou circle have been encroached on for the construction of a statue of the Buddha.