A CORRESPONDENT
BOKO: Illegal sand mining, deforestation, charcoal production, and various other illegal activities like smuggling are going on at an extreme pace without interruption in areas under the West Kamrup forest division in Kamrup district. The division is part of the larger Western Assam wildlife division.
The illegal activities have impacted nature and wildlife like the endangered river dolphins, wild elephants, Muga (Golden silk of Assam), and other animals along with humans. According to a survey published by Wildlife Institute of India in 2024, their assessment of the Kulsi river, covering 61 Kms, resulted in a population estimate of 20 dolphins. The Kulsi river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra river is home to a small population of Ganges river dolphins. However, recent surveys indicate a decline in their numbers, with factors like sand mining and changing water dynamics impacting their habitat.
Smugglers are illegally mining sand from Kulsi river and transporting it to various places including Guwahati city with 50 to 70 trucks on a daily basis. Surprisingly, the state government's Van Mahotsav's closing ceremony was organized at Kulsi, where Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, PCCF Sandeep Kumar took part as chief guests on Monday. On the other hand, smugglers restarted sand mining from the very next day from the Kulsi reserve forest.
The Indian Forest Act, 1927 and Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, restricts the use of forest land for non-forest purposes, including mining, without prior approval from the central government. The Supreme Court of India has also issued orders prohibiting mining in certain forest areas to protect critical wildlife habitats and prevent degradation. Despite all these orders, and rules and regulations, smugglers have continuously been mining sand from the Kulsi river. The mining areas fall under the Kulsi forest range and are at some 1 to 5 kilometers distance from the range office, and only some 13 kilometers away from the West Kamrup forest division office. The forest department has surprisingly failed to stop illegal sand mining and smuggling from Kulsi river and it continues to threaten the river dolphins or Xihu.
The Kulsi river covers the Loharghat range, Kulsi range, Bamunigaon range, and Nagarbera riverine range with their several forest beat offices and forest protection range. However, the departmental authorities have not been able to stop illegal sand mining.
On the other hand, irreversible deforestation has caused dramatic changes in the natural environment under the West Kamrup divisional area. Due to these changes, wild elephants have created havoc in the public places in search of food and damaged paddy fields, gardens and also damaged houses under the divisional area. The changes have also impacted the orange gardens, with production decreasing day by day. On the other hand, due to the weather changes, the Muga production has also decreased.
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