Dehing Patkai Becomes India’s Newest National Park

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Assam government has decided to upgrade Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary to national park
It will become India’s 105^th national park
2018 – Kuno NP, Madhya Pradesh

There are 104 existing national parks in India covering an area of 40501.13 km², which is 23% of the geographical area of the country (National Wildlife Database, May, 2019).

Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary

Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia Districts of Assam and covers an area of 111.19 km2 (42.93 sq mi) rainforest.
It was declared a sanctuary on 13 June 2004.
Referred to as the “Amazon of the East”
This forestland stretches for 575 square kilometers across 3 districts in Assam.
Project Elephant – The Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve

Contiguous patch of rainforest
Its biodiversity is very rich and unique.
Animal species –
Hoolock gibbon, slow loris, pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque, capped langur, Asian elephant, Bengal tiger.
Dehing Patkai hosts about 293 different species of birds, including- Slender-billed vulture, white-winged duck, greater adjutant, lesser adjutant, greater spotted eagle, etc
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

Any area other than area comprised with any reserve forest or the territorial waters can be notified by the State Government to constitute as a sanctuary if such area is of adequate ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural or zoological significance, for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment.
Some restricted human activities are allowed inside the Sanctuary area details of which are given in CHAPTER IV, WPA 1972.
There are 551 existing wildlife sanctuaries in India.

An area, whether within a sanctuary or not, can be notified by the state government to be constituted as a National Park, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, or zoological association or importance, needed to for the purpose of protecting & propagating or developing wildlife therein or its environment.
No human activity is permitted inside the national park except for the ones permitted by the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state under the conditions given in CHAPTER IV, WPA 1972.
Some human activities can be allowed inside a wildlife sanctuary, but no human activity is allowed in a national park
The announcement comes just months after the National Board of Wildlife’s (NBWL) conditional clearance to a coal mining project by Coal India Limited (CIL) in Dehing Patkai sparked virtual protests in the state.