Amid public outcry, chief wildlife warden inspects road work in Hollongapar Sanctuary
The visit comes following allegations of irregularities in the construction of the road raised by the locals & the issue being raised by Mariani BJP MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi.
Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Jorhat (AT Photo)
Jorhat, Mar 8: The State Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), Wildlife Vinay Gupta, who is also the the Chief Wildlife Warden, on Friday, visited Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary under the Mariani Range of the Jorhat Forest Division, reportedly to inspect the ongoing construction of a road inside the sanctuary.
According to sources, the visit comes following allegations of irregularities in the construction of the road raised by the local people and the issue being raised by Mariani BJP MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi at the ongoing budget session of the State Assembly. The sources said that the villagers of the adjoining areas came to the spot and pointed out the alleged anomalies in the construction work to the PCCF. When newspersons at the spot sought Gupta's comment on the matter (road construction), the PCCF said that he would submit a report to the government regarding his visit to the sanctuary and declined to disclose anything on the subject.
Replying to another query, Gupta said that five rope canopy bridges were being installed by the department to connect two parts of the sanctuary that had gotten bifurcated due to the railway track passing through it.
The PCCF said that the installation of one rope bridge had been completed overhead the railway track, and the works on two more ropes were in progress.
It is pertinent to mention here that the track laid during the British rule more than a century ago led to the endangered Hoolock Gibbon population of the forest getting fragmented, resulting in decreasing population growth of the only ape species found in India. The sanctuary is also home to six other primate species, over 200 species of birds, including the white-winged wood duck, insects, frogs, leopards, elephants, jungle cats, civet cats, mongoose, Chinese pangolin, Indian fox, barking deer, sambar deer, and Malayan giant squirrel, and among reptiles and amphibians, pythons, monitor lizards, forest roof turtles, bullfrogs, and golden frogs.
By
Staff Correspondent