Assam Government's Plan to Reopen Sawmills Sparks Environmental Concerns

A CORRESPONDENT

BOKAKHAT: After a prolonged gap, the Assam Government is making preparations to reopen wood-based industries by issuing fresh licences for sawmills. Expressing serious concern over the move, noted environmental activist Apurba Ballav Goswami has questioned whether Assam will have any forests left in the coming years.

Despite stringent directives from the Supreme Court, large-scale destruction of forests through indiscriminate felling of trees has continued in various parts of Assam over the years. Forest destruction has persisted in the Dehing Patkai rainforest, often described as the Amazon of the East.

In the name of illegal coal mining, the biodiversity-rich forests of the historic Patkai Hills have been devastated. Oil exploration activities have also been carried out, destroying parts of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. Similarly, in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve landscape, stone mafias have destroyed forest areas, forcing wild elephants to enter human settlements. Little attention has also been paid to the conservation of rivers, wetlands, and other water bodies.

On December 12, 1996, the Supreme Court issued a comprehensive interim order aimed at preventing forest destruction in Northeast India. The Court directed the suspension of operations of all sawmills, veneer mills, and plywood units dependent on forest timber and located within 100 kilometres of the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

Following the verdict, most plywood factories in Assam stopped production from December 24, 1996. More than 1,000 plywood industries, including the once-largest plywood manufacturer in Asia, A.R. & T. Company of Margherita, were reduced to ruins. The sudden closure directly deprived nearly one lakh workers in Assam of their livelihoods, severely affecting the local economy.

At a time when global warming and climate change are increasingly affecting the environment, the Assam Government is once again preparing to reopen sawmills by issuing licences. However, the government continues its crackdown on illegal sawmills. The Forest Department has been conducting raids in various parts of the state, seizing machinery and timber from illegally operated sawmills.

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