GUWAHATI: Based on a petition filed by a nature lovers’ organization- Bihanga Bandhu, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) on Monday asked the Assam State Biodiversity Board (ASBB) to preserve the bird habitat trees on the road connecting Dharaapur to Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBIA).

The report was carried by the Northeast Now on October 5.

“This refers to a communication received from the organization Bihagi Bandhu informing the ongoing construction activities near Dharapur-Palashbari Road, Kendukuchi, Guwahati. The appellant stated that the felling of trees due to this work will have a permanent impact on the existing bird habitat and further requested the concerned authorities to consider of alternative measures to protect the avian residents, including many vulnerable species,” NBA secretary B Balaji said in a letter to ASBB member secretary Sandeep Kumar on Monday.

“In this connection, the Assam State Biodiversity Board is requested to look into the matter and take necessary action as deemed fit,” the letter added.

Also read: Assam: Tree full of stork to be felled for road widening in Guwahati

Earlier, conservation organization Bihanga Bandhu wrote to NBA to stop the move of the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) to cut down a tree, a habitat of the endangered Lesser Adjutant Stork, which stands near Nayan Filling Kishan Sewa Kendra on Dharapur-Palashbari Road.

A copy of the letter was also sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Environment and Forest Minister for immediate action.

The NHIDCL has decided to remove the tree to widen the road stretch from Dharapur to Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBIA) in Guwahati, Assam.

In the letter, the NGO said the colony of Lesser Adjutant Strok has been nesting on the tree for several years and cutting it down renders the birds homeless.

“Moreover, the nests of these birds have fledglings and if the trees are dismantled these fledglings will die,” Jugal Borah, a member of Bihanga Bandhu said.

A local villager said the particular colony of Lesser Adjutant Stork has inhabited these trees for many generations and though traffic is increasing on the highway, the birds have never changed their habitat.

A large number of trees have been felled in the last year along Jalukbari-Basistha Highway to convert the two-lane highway into a four-lane one. This would ease traffic on the highway that connects Jalukbari with Khanapara in Guwahati, Assam.

The NGO alleged that more than 293 trees will be felled on the Dharapur-Palashbari road to make way for the widening of the road project. 

The studies found that Guwahati in Assam has experienced a significant loss and fragmentation of green cover with nearly a 50 per cent drop in dense and moderated dense forests while non-forest areas grew twelvefold between 1976 and 2018.

The response from the ASBB is yet to be received.