Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) has recommended diversion of some portion of land of the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) near Kaziranga National Park (KNP) for two infrastructure projects in Assam. One is the tunnel project between Gohpur and Numaligarh, and the second is the proposed four-laning of the NH from Kaliabor to Numaligarh.
This was informed to the Lok Sabha by the Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Kirti Vardhan Singh, today in response to an unstarred question by Assam MP Gaurav Gogoi.
The Union Minister informed the Lok Sabha that the proposals for diversion of land in eco-sensitive zones are submitted by the state government for consideration of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wild Life (SCNBWL) after due recommendation of the State Board for Wild Life headed by the respective Chief Ministers. The SCNBWL, which also includes eminent ecologists, conservationists, and environmentalists, takes informed decisions on the proposals placed for its consideration.
In this case, the two proposals for diversion recommended by the SCNBWL were the (i) Proposal for construction of 4-lane tunnel connectivity across the River Brahmaputra between Gohpur (on NH-15) on the North Bank and Numaligarh (on NH-715) on the South Bank in Assam in the 84th SCNBWL meeting and (ii) Proposal for widening and improvement of the existing national highway to a 4-lane configuration from the Kaliabor to Numaligarh section in the 78th SCNBWL meeting.
The minister further stated, "The state government has informed that, in order to ensure strict compliance with the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court and to safeguard the ecological integrity of Kaziranga National Park and its adjoining environmentally sensitive catchment areas, orders have been issued for the closure of 28 stone quarries and 18 stone crushers operating under the Northern Range, Dolamara. Additionally, 10 mining permits, along with associated operational areas related to stone extraction, sand mahals, and sand-cum-gravel mining contracts (MCAs) in the Rangsali area of the division, have also been shut down."
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