There are serious allegations of illegal construction of corridors or roads between Kaziranga National Park and Karbi Anglong Hills for safe movement of wildlife. Rohit Chowdhury, an environmentalist from Bokakhat in Golaghat district, filed a complaint with the Supreme Court-constituted Central Empowered Committee (CEC). In his letter to the Delhi Committee on May 11, he mentioned three illegal constructions that openly violate the Supreme Court’s 2019 directions.
Environmentalists complain that a new school is being built in Holdhibari wildlife corridor along NH-37 which is clearly visible from the highway. Similarly, a residential building has been constructed in the Panbari corridor and earthworks are in progress near the Sinjuri waterway. On April 12, 2019, the Supreme Court issued an order clarifying that no new construction work can be done on private land within the nine designated wildlife corridors. These corridors are used by wildlife like elephants, rhinos, tigers etc. to cross the NH during floods and take shelter on higher ground.
Chowdhury termed the construction work as complete contempt of the Assam government towards the Supreme Court. He requested the committee to immediately stop all construction works in this identified corridor and prepare a list of all works in violation of the court order. Kaziranga National Park Field Director Sonali Ghosh said they are investigating the matter and will prove whether the constructions actually fell within the area designated for the corridor.
The order was issued by the Supreme Court in 2019 based on an earlier complaint filed by Rohit Chowdhury. The Government of Assam has identified nine wildlife corridors namely Amguri, Panbari, Holdhibari, Bagri, Harmati, Kanchanjuri, Hatidandi, Deochur and Chirang on April 1, 2022. Corridors were determined based on human-wildlife conflicts, highway wildlife mortality rates, camera-trap imagery and local opinion. According to the survey, there are many business establishments and parking lots on the western side of the Holdhibari corridor covering an area of 8.10 square kilometers.
