National Green Tribunal: In a suo motu cognizance of the news item titled “Proposed luxury hotels in and around Kaziranga threaten wildlife conservation livelihood” dated 31-07-2024, Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, Judicial Member, Dr. A. Senthil vel, Expert Member said that the news item raised substantial issue relating to compliance of the environmental norms and implementation of the provisions of scheduled enactment and since the matter was pertaining to Eastern Zonal Bench Kolkata, the same was transferred to it.
The Tribunal noted that it raised threat to wildlife, resulting in displacement, negative environmental impact and the movement of wild animals
The matter at hand relates to the upcoming tourism infrastructure projects in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (‘KNPTR’) in Assam. As per the news piece, these upcoming projects could be a threat to wildlife, resulting in displacement and the movement of wild animals, especially in the Inle Pothar area, which is spread across 1,300 square kilometres and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, home to the one-horned rhinoceros, elephants, tigers, wild buffaloes and wild boars among other species.
In 2023, it was announced that Kaziranga would soon have a five-star resort to attract tourists from across the world. Three hospitality projects are also being developed in and around Kaziranga in collaboration with the Department of Tourism. It was alleged that while it is unclear what the final projects are or who the developers are, land has already been barricaded and farmers have been displaced from it. The authorities concerned fenced the area around Inle Pothar and also deployed 35-40 armed commandos to guard the area. Inle Pothar and the adjoining tea gardens lie on the foothills of Karbi Hills, animals use this area during floods, while scouting for natural highlands and once this area gets blocked, they will enter villages, and this will aggravate human-animal conflict. It is a haven to over 400 elephants and the area has a history of peaceful coexistence between people and elephants.
The Tribunal noted that over 45 farmer families survive on the yield produced from the 19- acre land in Inle Pothar, of which 9.9 acre has been earmarked for the luxury hotels project. Even though the authorities have marked it as government land, the article claimed that the farmers have been paying revenue land taxes for more than a decade. Further, it was noted that in the Tata-owned Hathikuli tea estate, eight acres have reportedly been earmarked for the IHCL to build a luxury resort which will impact about 1,500 people who work in Rongajan and Hatikhuli tea gardens, affecting their livelihood.
The Tribunal also noted that KNPTR has nine animal corridors delineated, namely Amguri, Bagori, Chirang, Deosur, Harmati, Hatidandi and Kanchanjuri in Nagaon district and Haldibari and Panbari in Golaghat district. KNPTR is among a handful of national parks in the country without a declared Eco Sensitive Zone.
The Tribunal said that the article indicated violation of the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986; Biodiversity Act, 2002 and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, while raising substantial issue relating to compliance of the environmental norms and implementation of the provisions of scheduled enactment.
Thus, the Tribunal impleaded and issued notice to the following parties for filling their response before the appropriate bench of the Tribunal at least one week before the next date of hearing:
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Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Assam PCCF & HoFF
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Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve and National Tiger Conservation Authority
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Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate Change
Further, the Tribunal transferred the matter to Eastern Zonal Bench, Kolkata and listed for 30-09-2024.
[News Item titled “Proposed luxury hotels in and around Kaziranga threaten wildlife conservation livelihood” appearing in Mongabay dated 31-07-2024, Original Application No. 1049/2024, decided on: 07-08-2024]
