Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Assam government’s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department has issued a preliminary notification for the constitution of the proposed Ledo Namdang Reserved Forest in the Tinsukia district. The state Cabinet approved it in a sitting in November this year. According to the order issued in the name of the Governor of Assam under Section 5 of the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891, a total area of 9.4 hectares of land has been declared as a proposed reserve forest. The government appointed the Additional District Commissioner, Tinsukia, as the Forest Settlement Officer (FSO) to enquire into and determine the existence, nature and extent of any rights claimed over the land, as prescribed in Chapter II of the Regulation. The Divisional Forest Officer, Digboi Forest Division, has been appointed to assist the FSO in the settlement proceedings.
The proposed reserve forest is in the Tinsukia district under the Digboi Forest Division, Lekhapani Range, and Makum Mauza. Its name will be Ledo Namdang Reserved Forest. The area forms part of the floodplain of the Burhi-Dihing River, consisting mainly of alluvial soil. Owing to its slightly elevated nature compared to the surrounding floodplain, the land is considered suitable for plantation. At present, the composition of the forest is largely grassland with a few fruit-bearing trees dotted around.
No villages or private lands have been identified within the proposed area, and no rights of the surrounding population have been recorded so far, the notification said. The nearest timber depots are at Digboi, Margherita and Ledo. Local timber consumers include tea gardens, Oil India and the Assam Oil Company.
The reservation of the Ledo Namdang area is primarily intended for compensatory afforestation. This is in compliance with the Stage-I (In-Principle) Forest Clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, for the diversion of 4.4998 hectares of forest land in the Dessoi Valley Reserve Forest under Jorhat Forest Division. The clearance was accorded in favour of M/s Vedanta Ltd. (Cairn Oil & Gas Division) for oil and gas exploration drilling.
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