Dehing Patkai Coal Mining Protest – Free PDF Download

DEHING PATKAI ELEPHANT RESERVE

• The Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve – of which Saleki is a part – is the largest rainforest of India.
• Referred to as the “Amazon of the East”,
• This forestland stretches for 575 square kilometers in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Sivasagar districts in Assam.

WHY 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

• 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, osprey, kalij pheasant, 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.

WHAT IS THE CURRENT ISSUE?

• Amid 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

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

PANEL SET  UP

• 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 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  fulfilment of all other conditions” as recommended in a  meeting on January 21, the NBWL committee said.
• In the past few days #SAVEDEHINGPATKAI and #IAMDEHINGPATKAI are trending on Facebook and Twitter.

IMPORTANT POINT

• Though the NBWL has allowed the coal mining project on April 7 , 2020, but, 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.

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