Hollongapar Wildlife Sanctuary: Citizens' forum joins fight against oil drilling

Jorhat, Oct 5: A call to oppose the proposed exploration and drilling activities by a private company on 4.49 hectares of land near the Assam-Nagaland border, close to the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Jorhat district, was given at a public meeting held at the conference hall of the Kingchuk Sports and Cultural Association in Mariani on Wednesday.

A member of the body named Jorhat Zila Nagarik Samaj, which organised the meeting that was presided over by Promod Mahanta, president of the citizens' body, said that the meeting was attended by several organisations and individuals from Jorhat and other districts. The speakers, while voicing serious concern over the fact that the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change recently granted approval to the Vedanta-owned Cairn Oil and Gas's proposal for exploration activities, also expressed apprehension of an adverse environmental impact that may pose a grave threat to the hoolock gibbon species, the only ape found in India, which is an endangered denizen of the 20.98 sq km wild-life sanctuary.

The speakers urged the people to come together to join the organisations and individuals to oppose the proposed oil and gas exploration activities at the site under the Mariani Range of the Jorhat.

Forest Division, which is also home to six other primate species, over 200 species of birds, including the white-winged wood duck and the state bird of Assam, which figures as endangered on the IUCN list of threatened species. Butterflies, insects, frogs, leopards, elephants, jungle cats, civet cats, mongoose, Chinese pangolin, Indian fox, barking deer, sambar deer, Malayan giant squirrel, and many other wildlife species are found in the sanctuary.

The meeting adopted a resolution to send memoranda to the President of India, the Governor of Assam, the Central government, and international organisations associated with conservation and protection of wildlife and nature. The memoranda will request the halting of the proposed exploration activities by the private company.

Earlier, the secretary and treasurer of the citizens' body, Tridip Dutta and Dilip Bordoloi, respectively, stated the objective of the meeting.

It may be mentioned that earlier this week, the Jorhat Press Club sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking review of the decision of the Central government to allow oil and gas exploration activities at the site.

It may also be mentioned that Jorhat MP and Deputy Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, had, in August last, voiced concern over the proposed exploration activities to be carried out near the sanctuary. Gogoi, in a letter to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupinder Yadav, had urged the minister to reconsider the said decision.

The matter was also raised in the last session of the Assam Legislative Assembly in August this year by Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia. Assam's Forest and Wildlife Minister, Chandra Mohan Patowary, while replying to the query, stated that after examining the matter, the State Board of Wildlife had approved the proposal of oil exploration around 13 km away from the sanctuary and had forwarded it to the Union Ministry of Forest, Environment, and Climate Change.

On the other hand, the MLA of Mariani LAC, Rupjyoti Kurmi of the BJP, recently slammed the organisations and people who are protesting against the decision to grant permission to carry out exploration activities in the said area. Kurmi had alleged that the protesters are spreading "misinformation and deflecting attention" from key issues. The MLA had further observed that the protests seemed to be a deliberate attempt to divert attention from various popular developmental and welfare initiatives undertaken by the Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government.