HT Correspondent
JORHAT, Oct 3: A call was made to oppose Vedanta’s proposed gas and oil exploration activities near the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, an eco-sensitive zone, at a citizens’ meeting organised under the aegis of Brihattar Jorhat Nagarik Samaj at the conference hall of Kingchuk Sports and Cultural Association, Mariani, here on Thursday.
The meeting, which was attended by several organisations and individuals from Jorhat and other districts, adopted four resolutions, including a case to be filed at the National Green Tribunal. The other resolutions were to ask the government to immediately stop Vedanta from its mining activities and to seek the removal of the railway track from the middle of the sanctuary and lay it in a way that avoids the forest area, as well as the removal of the electrification of the track immediately.
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The meeting also resolved to send the resolutions to the President of India, the Governor of Assam, and all concerned departments of the Union government. The proposal would also be sent to international organisations associated with the conservation of wildlife and fauna.
Brihattar Jorhat Nagarik Samaj secretary Tridib Dutta, while enumerating the objectives of the public meeting, stated that the people should unite and oppose tooth and nail the said drilling activities of a Vedanta-owned company, as it would spell disaster for the fragile biodiversity of the area, which also housed the endangered Hoolock Gibbon, the only ape species in India. He further made a call to oppose the electrification of the railway track that cut through the sanctuary, as this would disturb the fauna at night.
Prominent educationist Ranjit Gohain Baruah of Mariani expressed satisfaction with the steps taken by the citizens’ committee for a legal fight in the Green Tribunal and urged the citizens to provide financial assistance to the citizens’ committee in this fight.
At the beginning, the treasurer of the committee, Dilip Bardoloi, welcomed all the nature lovers and organisations that attended the meeting, especially Rakesh Hazarika of the Global Pandemic Response Forum, Guwahati.
Dr Dandeswar Dutta, secretary of the Jorhat Environment Society, explained the rich biodiversity of the Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest, which was a contiguous part of the Gibbon Sanctuary, and the potential damage to the two neighbouring forest areas. He pointed out that the Vedanta activity would have a negative impact in Jorhat, resulting in increased atmospheric temperature.
Bikash Bardoloi, president of the Jorhat Lions Club Greater, said that the 4.49 hectares of forest allocated for mining in the reserve is no small measure of land. Mining in this forest will cause irreparable damage to the last refuge of the endangered Hoolock Gibbon in Assam and its shrinking habitat. He said it should be the duty of conscious citizens to oppose this activity.
In the meeting, it was stated that the government had frequently amended the forest laws in the interest of big capitalists to allow the destruction of forests in the name of development. He said Vedanta Ltd. had faced several controversies in the past, including allegations of corporate influence in politics through donations/electoral bonds to political parties.
The meeting was chaired by president of Brihattar Pramod Mahanta and was attended by Raijor Dal Jorhat district president Pradeep Sarkar, Niranjan Halai of Ashray Dergaon, Nekibul Hussain of Dharitri Eco-Friendly Forum, Mariani, Rituparno Goswami, Jorhat district president of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, Arindam Gogoi, president of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, Jorhat, and Junmoni Bora, president of Nadi and Nari Jagrat Shakti, Assam. The meeting was also attended by Rajiv Barua, Mariani advisor of the Jorhat Citizens’ Committee, and Kanak Chandra Bora, advisor of the Titabar Committee, Dr Golap Deka, vice-president of the Committee, Biren Tati, secretary of Hollongapar Nature’s Society, Mukib Jamal Ahmed, prominent journalist Niranjan Mahanta, Jamini Barbara, and many others.
