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Assam group opposes coal mining at Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary

  • NE NOW NEWS
    • Assam forest

    Dihing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary.

    A group comprising activists, academicians, research scholars, students and writers from Assam has issued a statement opposing coal mining at Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary in upper Assam.

    The group in the statement signed by 235 individuals has urged the government to reconsider its decision to carry out coal mining in the wildlife sanctuary.

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    Here is the full statement:  

    The government’s decision to begin coal mining in, what we may without any exaggeration call the ‘Amazon of the East’,  Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, comes as a matter of great shock and outrage especially at a time when the whole world witnesses trying times.

    Compounded with the COVID-19 pandemic in combating which we are already into the fourth phase of a nationwide lockdown, it has rightly occasioned mass hysteria because Dehing Patkai houses in its 111.19 sq. kilometres shelter countless varieties of flora and fauna rare in its species variety.

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    The ministry of environment and forest considered the proposal of environmental clearance for Tikak Extension Open Coal Mine Project. But the project falls within the Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve of Digboi Division. The proposed site of diversion is part of Lekhapani Reserve Forest and also falls in Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve.

    One fears that mining activities would not only impair the ecology but also adversely affect the cultural heritage of the state.

    On this International Day of Biological Diversity, we urge the government to reconsider its decision sooner than ever, for the environmental welfare of the region. After all, we are because the trees are!

    Signatories: 

     

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