Assam: Gauhati High Court Notices on Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the state government, the forest department, and other respondents in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) case, with notice returnable in four weeks when the next hearing is listed.

The division bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund issued the notices in the PIL case (PIL/66/2024) filed by Rajeev Bhattacharyya and Gaurav Choudhury in relation to the withdrawal of wildlife sanctuary status of Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary. The bench stated that the PIL is linked to PIL 62/2024, with the prayer being the same, and heard both the PILs together.

At the outset of the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner submitted that the prayer for reverting the decision made in this PIL was also raised by another petitioner in PIL 62/2024. In view of the prayers made in the said PIL, the petitioner in this PIL will not be pressing the original prayer, he stated.

It is submitted that both matters relate to the issue of Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary, and additionally, the petitioner in this PIL also raised the issue of contiguous areas of the Ramsar site of Deepor Beel. Moreover, in this PIL, the issue relating to the laying down of the railway line from Azara to Tetelia, which would traverse the Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary, was also raised.

The gist of the matter is that, in 2022, the Assam government declared a 117-square-kilometre area of reserve forest in Kamrup (Metro) district as the Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary. However, in a surprising move, the government reversed this decision in August 2023 and rolled back the status of wildlife sanctuary, reverting back to its nomenclature of Garbhanga Reserved Forest.

It was submitted in an earlier hearing of PIL 62/2024 that once preliminary notification is issued declaring an area to be a wildlife sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, it attains protected status. It was also pointed out that this status can only be revoked by the NBWL and the Supreme Court.

Moreover, as contended by PIL 62/2024, the decision of de-notification by the government on this sanctuary was taken without consultation with the people in the area and without due legal processes being followed. This move, in itself, the PIL said, dilutes the conservation activities in the area and efforts at protecting the biodiversity here.

In the instant hearing, the bench directed the notices to be returnable in four weeks, after which the matter is to be listed along with PIL 62/2024.

Also Read: Gauhati HC Notifies Assam Government on Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary De-Notification

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