Pasighat: Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu has assured to address the illegal encroachments by Assam people and their cattle which are let loose to openly graze deep inside D. Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS).
Khandu was responding to the question of this scribe based on the letters/petitions written by Pasighat West MLA, Ninong Ering to the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
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In the letter, Ering had raised huge concern over the illegal encroachments by people from neighbouring Assam who have also let loose their cattle to openly graze deep inside the sanctuary besides constructing cattle sheds.
Ering called on the attention of both the Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam on the matters related to the demarcation within the D. Ering Wildlife Sanctuary along the inter-state boundary between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
“During the final discussion on the inter-state boundary, I had agreed with the Assam counterparts on certain conditions regarding the sanctuary”, writes Ering to both Arunachal and Assam Chief Ministers.
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“However, it has come to my notice that the officials from Assam are allowing the establishment of cattle sheds and encroachments for cultivation within the sanctuary,” added Ering.
Ering mentioned tha the construction activities by the Assam forest officers in the D. Ering WLS have caused distress among the sanctuary staff and the villagers of Oyan, Sika Tode and Sika Bamin who have raised concerns with him.
He pointed out the final boundary agreement between chief ministers of Arunachal and Assam in January 2023, which assured for restriction of new cattle sheds or settlements from encroaching within the boundary.
“We have already witnessed examples like the Gali Reserve Forest, which people from Assam have converted into villages, leading to the exclusion of forested areas from their original purposes,” Ering said as a comparison.
Ering appealed to both Khandu and Sarma to deploy forest officials from both states to ensure the sanctity of the D. Ering WLS is maintained.
He said that joint efforts will prevent further encroachments and protect the sanctuary for future generations.
In response, Khandu said that he received a letter from Pasighat West MLA, Ninong Ering on Monday morning here in Pasighat before he attennd the Adi-Apatani Summit-2025.
He said that he has endorsed the same to the Deputy Commissioner, East Siang District to submit a detailed report of the matter in his office for his further action.
Khandu said he had an informal meeting with Assam CM Hemanta Biswa Sarma, during which they discussed the boundary issue. He assured that they would initiate preventive measures.
He also asserted that the government have closed down most areas of the Arunachal-Assam boundary, but the government still needs to work on some sections.
Notably, the D. Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary, located on the river islands of the Siang/Brahmaputra River and stretching from south of Pasighat township to Arunachal-Assam boundary, is named after the late Dr. Daying Ering, known as the father of modern Arunachal.
Ninong Ering, son of late Dr. Daying Ering, has been doing his best to assist the management of the D. Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary Division in Pasighat in efforts to free the sanctuary from illegal encroachments on the Assam side.
In this connection, Ering had also written to Bhupender Yadav, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change in March 2023.
In the letter, he urged for the ministry’s intervention to evict illegal settlements of people and their cattle, including sheds, at Siboguri in D. Ering WLS area.
According to the sanctuary boundary notification, the Siboguri area falls entirely within the sanctuary jurisdiction.
Following the ministry’s intervention, it wrote to the Chief Wildlife Wardens of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to take action against illegal settlements in the wildlife habitat and corridor between D. Ering WLS and Dibru Saikhowa National Park.
As a result, the Assam government relocated the illegal settlements in Siboguri this year.
This occurred after the flood in the Siang/Brahmaputra River submerged the Siboguri/Sibiya Chapori areas of the sanctuary during the last monsoon.
Now, along with Ering, other wildlife activists and pro-conservation teams from Arunachal and Assam are hoping that the chief ministers of Assam and Arunachal will soon resolve the issue for the larger conservation purposes in the region.
The Assam government has also announced plans to declare the Poba Forest Range as Poba Wildlife Sanctuary in August 2024, which interconnected with D. Ering WLS and Dibru Saikhowa National Park.