Supreme Court stops Assam’s move to withdraw notification of Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary
- March 14, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Supreme Court stops Assam’s move to withdraw notification of Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary
Subject: Environment
Section: Protected Areas in news
Context:
- The Supreme Court halted the Assam government’s attempt to withdraw a notification from March 17, 1998, that established the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary, a crucial habitat for one of the largest rhino populations in India.
Concerns Over Sanctuary Declaration:
- The government highlighted that the sanctuary’s declaration overlooked the rights of villagers from marginalized communities in Thengabhanga, Murkata, and Mayong, who have lived in the area since before India’s independence.
- Following the withdrawal of the 1998 notification, the government formed a committee to assess the rights and claims of forest dwellers and to reconsider the declaration of the Pobitora region as a wildlife sanctuary.
- Justice B.R. Gavai emphasized that withdrawing a notification declaring a wildlife sanctuary requires approval from the National Board of Wildlife and noted previous orders against the dereservation of protected areas. The Court found the withdrawal “ex facie illegal.”
- Assam’s counsel argued that the withdrawal aimed to correct a past error in land demarcation,not to dismantle the sanctuary.
- The justices affirmed the government’s responsibility towards both the sanctuary and the rights of forest dwellers.
Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary:
- Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the flood plains of River Brahmaputra in the district of Morigaon in the state of Assam.
- It harbours the highest density of Rhino in the world and the second highest concentration of Rhino in Assam after Kaziranga National Park.
- It is often called ‘Mini Kaziranga’ because of the similar landscape and the sizeable population of the one-horned rhino.
- Fauna: Leopard, Leopard cat, Fishing cat, Jungle cat, Feral Buffalo, Wild pigs, Chinese pangolins, etc.
- Flora: Its maximum consists of the wet savannah of Arundo donax and Saccharum. The remaining area is covered by water bodies.
Source: TH