Dehing Patkai's Coal mining Protest in Assam

DEHING PATKAI ELEPHANT RESERVE

The Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve is the largest rainforest of India. It is also referred as the "Amazon of the East", This forestland stretches for 575 square kilometers in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Sivasagar districts in Assam.

So to preserve the Dehing Patkai and to preserve the forest and its biodiversity people of  Assam launched Online Campaign as they can't protest on the roads due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But there are few misunderstandings among the people and the government failed to involve the people of Assam in the decision as the reason consists of 575 sq km but permission given for coal mining is given only to saleki which have around 111hectare. And among which as stated by Mr. Sukumar  that 57.20 ha of hilly forestland had already been broken up in last decades by illegal mining and the remaining 41.39 ha was unbroken, NBWL  will figure some plans for underground mining without affecting the biodiversity and keeping safe the top lands in the rest 41.39 ha. But when the NBWL gave the full permission to continue mining in the rest 41.39 ha then the protest began . And the people wants a complete stop as the local biodiversity has already been affected. But Govt. fears of more illegal mining which results in the loss of the environment and the government both.

This picture shows the are which is already mined illegally in the last few decades.

After such a huge protest, Gauhati High Court Takes Up Case Against it. The petitions were filed against the Centre's preliminary conditional approval to Coal India for mining inside Dehing Patkai forest, stating that it violates the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Ajay Lamba and Justice Soumitra Saiki issued the notices after hearing two public interest litigations (PILs) filed by some advocates and a mountaineer. The court has fixed July 20 as the next date of hearing for the suo motu and the other two PILs. Advocates D K Das and Rakhee S Chowdhury, representing the PIL of lawyer Mrinmoy Khataniar and mountaineer Amar Jyoti Deka, said that the court has not combined the three PILs as of now.

The All Assam Students'' Union (AASU), Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and other civil society groups, besides opposition parties, environmentalists, activists, teachers and students have been protesting on the issue since May, threatening of bigger agitations if coal mining is allowed.

Lets take an example by replacing animals to humans,and look into the matter - Could you imagine some random people forcefully burgled into your house where you have been living from generations. They didn't stop there and bulldozed a portion of the house according to their needs. First you protest and you are brutally beaten up. Then you complaint but there were none who could listen that. You cried a lot out of pain & fear and the burglars laughed. Finally you have to leave your own house and don't know where to go. Can't even imagine, right? But it is going to happen very soon and even most of us don't aware of it.

It is known as Amazon of the East 

Its biodiversity is very rich and unique. Few of the animal species living here are Hoolock gibbon, slow loris, pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque, capped langur, Asian elephant, Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, gaur, Chinese pangolin, Himalayan black bear, Himalayan squirrel, leopard cat, clouded leopard, porcupine, crab-eating mongoose, sambar, sun bear, binturong, barking deer, golden cat, and marbled cat.

Bio Diversity of Dehing Patkai

The Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve hosts about 293 different species of birds, including Slender-billed vulture, white-winged duck, greater adjutant, lesser adjutant, greater spotted eagle, beautiful nuthatch, marsh babbler, tawny-breasted wren-babbler, yellow-vented warbler, broad-billed warbler, white-naped yuhina, white-cheeked partridge, great hornbill, brown hornbill, Oriental darter and painted stork,  grey peacock pheasant, besra, black baza, and hill myna.

The most common reptiles found here are rock python, king cobra, Asian leaf turtle, monitor lizard. 30 different species of butterfly thrive in this beautiful tropical vegetation and more than 100 species of orchids.

The Problem which is going in Assam

After the countrywide lockdown, the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) has recommended coal mining in a part of an elephant reserve in Assam. The NBWL’s Standing Committee had on April 7 discussed a proposal for use of 98.59 hectares of land from the Saleki proposed reserve forest land for a coal mining project by North-Easter Coal Field (NECF), a unit of Coal India Limited

NATIONAL BOARD FOR WILDLIFE

1. Statutory Organization constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
2. The NBWL is chaired by the Prime Minister. It has 47 members in total.
3. Its roles are “advisory” in nature and advise the Central Government on framing policies.
4. To promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests.
5. No alternation of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without the approval of the NBWL.

The NBWL had in July 2019 formed a committee comprising its member R. Sukumar, Assam’s Chief Wildlife Warden, and a representative of the local wildlife division for assessing the mining area. In the April 7 meeting, Mr. Sukumar stated that 57.20 ha of hilly forestland had already been broken up by the user agency (NECF) and the remaining 41.39 ha was unbroken.

He recommended a “cautious approach” for preserving the “basic integrity of this forested hill slope”.

After detailed discussions, the Standing Committee “recommended for approval” the proposal for mining in the broken-up area. “For the unbroken area, the matter will be considered after the user agency submits a feasibility report for underground mining, and also submits compliance report regarding fulfillment of all other conditions” as recommended in a meeting on January 21, the NBWL committee said.

Though the NBWL has allowed the coal mining project on April 7, 2020 illegal mining of coal has been going by the coal mafias in the forest for long affecting the biodiversity of this virgin forestland. Dehing Patkai region is already threatened by high polluting industries, such as coal mines, oil refineries, gas drilling, affecting the biodiversity of the region.