Guwahati: The inclusion of 18 forest villages within Assam’s Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary into the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) has sparked concern among environmentalists, even as a related case on encroachment remains under consideration by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Of the 81 villages newly incorporated into the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) as per a final delimitation order issued on June 23 by Assam’s Panchayat and Rural Development Department, 18 lie within the protected bounds of the sanctuary.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The move comes at a time when the NGT is still hearing a case on large-scale encroachment inside the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam’s Sonitpur district.
The inclusion of these villages was authorized through a series of notifications issued by the Welfare of Bodoland Department, spanning from December 31, 2022, to September 21, 2024.
The process followed a public consultation window after the issuance of a draft delimitation order on June 5, 2025, with inputs collected from district commissioners and stakeholders across the affected districts.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The villages now integrated into the BTC fall under the Kalamati and Dhekiajuli forest ranges of the Sonitpur West Forest Division. Among them are Arlilaga, Satai, Sapai, Rowmari, Jhargaon, Batachipur, and several others.
Environmental activist Dilip Nath from Dhekiajuli, who filed the original petition before the NGT, has publicly opposed the inclusion of forest villages within the BTC boundary.
Nath also sought urgent clarification from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and the Commissioner of Panchayat and Rural Development on how the authorities approved these settlements despite their location inside a notified wildlife sanctuary.
Meanwhile, the NGT’s Eastern Zone Bench, responding to Nath’s petition, has sought a detailed affidavit from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) regarding the ongoing encroachment in the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary.
During the hearing on August 21, 2024, the tribunal cited an affidavit submitted by then-Assam PCCF R.P. Singh, which revealed extensive human settlement and commercial land use within protected forest zones.
According to Singh’s affidavit, over 50,241 hectares of forest land in reserve and protected areas, including Sonai Rupai, are under encroachment.
An estimated 3 lakh people have reportedly built permanent homes, cleared evergreen forests, and introduced commercial plantations such as betel nut, rubber, and tea.
The document also highlighted that 68 SSA schools, 40 polling stations, PWD roads, and tea estates now operate inside the sanctuary.
The state has received over 23,000 claims under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, from areas including Charduar, Balipara, and Sonai Rupai forests.
The MoEFCC informed the tribunal that no one had sought forest clearance for non-forestry activities in the sanctuary.
It reiterated that under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, prior approval from the Central Government is mandatory for any such activities. However, it added that demarcation and protection of forest areas remain the responsibility of the state government.
The NGT has directed the MoEFCC to file a reply addressing the PCCF’s claims and to clarify the Centre’s stance on decades-long encroachment inside legally protected forest land.
The government’s decision to include the forest villages in the BTR ahead of the BTC elections scheduled for September has raised concerns that it is bypassing legal and environmental norms for political gain, potentially setting a dangerous precedent for managing India’s protected areas.
“These villages are encroachments within the Wildlife Sanctuary. Including them in the BTC effectively legitimizes those encroachments, which is inappropriate,” Nath added.