NEW DELHI: The Gauhati High Court has issued notices to the Centre, the Assam government, and 12 others concerning the de-notification of the Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary (GWS) on the outskirts of Guwahati. A bench comprising Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund issued the notices on December 11 while hearing two public interest litigations (PILs) filed by Rajeev Bhattacharya, Gaurav Choudhury, and Subrat Talukdar. The PILs questioned the state government’s move to cancel the preliminary notification for GWS.
In addition to the Centre and Assam government the notices were issued to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Chief Secretary, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), and several senior forest officials. In March 2022, the Assam government had issued a preliminary notification declaring around 117 sq km of forest area in Kamrup (Metropolitan) district as GWS. This area is home to various wildlife species which includes elephants, birds, and reptiles.
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However, in September 2023, the state cabinet decided to cancel the preliminary notification for GWS which borders Meghalaya and the Ramsar site of Deepor Beel, without providing any specific reason. In their PILs, the petitioners cited several Supreme Court orders stating that once a notification is issued an area gains protected status and any reversal must be approved by the National Board of Wildlife (NBW) and the Supreme Court.
The petitioners argued that the decision to cancel the preliminary notification was “capricious, unreasonable, and arbitrary” and sought the court’s intervention. They alleged that the cancellation was made at the behest of a senior forest officer to “facilitate mining activities.” Additionally, the petitioners claimed that illegal stone mining and the proposed railway track by NFR within the forest would lead to the destruction of rich biodiversity.
The petitioners urged the high court to set aside the 2023 notification and reinstate the original decision to declare the Garbhanga area a wildlife sanctuary.