Letters to the Editor: Save Kaziranga’s Panbari Corridor

Save Kaziranga’s Panbari Corridor

When a wildlife corridor disappears from a government document, it is not merely ink that vanishes—it is a lifeline for wildlife that is being erased. I wish to draw attention to the alarming omission of the Panbari animal corridor from the Assam Government’s official notification concerning the nine corridors connecting the Karbi Anglong Hills with Kaziranga National Park.

The Gazette notification dated April 1, 2022, explicitly mentions nine corridors in its introductory note but subsequently identifies only eight, inexplicably leaving out Panbari. This glaring discrepancy is deeply disconcerting because Panbari is among the oldest and most ecologically consequential corridors, facilitating the movement of wildlife between Kaziranga and the Karbi Anglong landscape.

Such an omission cannot be brushed aside as a mere clerical aberration. It assumes greater gravity amid concerns over rare-earth-element exploration near Kaziranga. The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), constituted by the Supreme Court, has repeatedly urged the State Government to notify all nine corridors. Yet the authorities appear to have dragged their feet, thereby weakening the credibility of conservation governance.

The government must promptly clarify whether the omission was unintentional or intentional. The original delineation report, Gazette notification and subsequent amendments should be subjected to an independent scrutiny. Any attempt to dilute the legal protection of this corridor must be nipped in the bud.

Kaziranga is not an expendable tract of green—it is Assam’s ecological inheritance. If we allow its corridors to disappear on paper today, wildlife may disappear from the landscape tomorrow.

Dipen Gogoi,

Teok, Jorhat

Short public memory

Finally, a committee has been formed to look after the financial irregularities committed by the previous committee, with Swami Govind Dev Giri as General Secretary and Air Marshal (Ret) Jeetendra Mishra as CEO of the Ram Mandir trust. Once again, the opposition, in their usual style, began to criticise the appointment of Ret. Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra as CEO, labelling him a government agent. This situation simply proves and exposes the lack of faith of our opposition in our gallant defence forces, who are second to none. We still remember that some time ago, a member of Congress accused the Chief of the Armed Forces of being a 'street goon'. We also remember eleven Kar Sewaks were shot dead by the security force under the then SP government in UP under Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Indeed, public memory is not short.

Joel Goyari

Tangla

Private tuition woes

Through the columns of your esteemed newspaper, I wish to draw attention to the growing mania for private tuition among students and parents. What was once considered an additional academic support has now become an almost unavoidable practice. Many students attend school during the day and spend several more hours in private tuition, leaving little time for rest, recreation, creativity or self-study.

The situation is particularly concerning when parents feel that their children cannot succeed without coaching, even when competent teachers and adequate facilities are available in schools. This tendency not only places an unnecessary financial burden on families but also weakens students’ confidence in classroom teaching.

Teachers, parents and educational authorities must work together to restore the importance of regular classroom learning. Schools should provide individual attention and strengthen remedial teaching wherever necessary. Parents, too, should encourage self-learning rather than making tuition a status symbol. Private tuition should remain an option—not an obsession.

Heramba Nath,

Hindumaizali, Kamrup