Dehing Patkai-The dark part of the story

In October, 2000, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) established the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) with the main objective of promoting management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and also for strengthening long-term political commitment to this end.

Four years before it, a conservation movement started in Assam with the districts of Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia as its focal area. It raised the demand for a wildlife sanctuary (WLS) status to a pristine 500-square-kilometre (sq-km) area of an integrated rainforest, then divided into three separate reserve forests (RFs)—Joypore, Upper Dehing and Dirak. Till then, the official as well as unofficial quarters were refusing to believe that Assam too has a rainforest. But this movement could credibly establish this fact and projected this rainforest as a prized part of State’s natural heritage.

Experts describe rainforests as the Earth’s oldest living ecosystems, which are incredibly diverse and complex and shelter over half of the world’s plant and animal species, despite covering merely six per cent of the Earth’s surface. A 10-sq-km patch of a rainforest can contain as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 tree species, 400 bird species and 150 butterfly species. They help regulate our climate.

After nearly 19 years, since the above movement began in Assam, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Heritage Parks (AHPs) initiative came about. With the ASEAN Declaration on Heritage Parks and Reserves, ASEAN countries resolved to effectively manage the AHPs to maintain ecological processes and life support systems, preserve genetic diversity, ensure sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems, and to keep wilderness intact for their multiple values. By 2019, there were 49 AHPs.

But, at home, the bombastic rulers, busy in boasting of the State’s unique natural heritage, gave the above movement a very uncouth treatment. Its leaders were projected as ignoramus and liars, despite its main leader Soumyadeep Dutta being an alumnus of the Smithsonian Institution in Natural History, and, trained-up in wildlife conservation by the Zoological Survey of India. As part of this movement, Nature’s Beckon, led by Dutta, organised for the first time a rainforest festival in Assam with a four-day programme since November 17, 2001, with Joypore, in Dibrugarh district, as its venue. It involved foreign experts as well as local people. State’s then Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and the Minister of State for Industries, Information and Public Relations, Home, Finance, Science & Technology and Environment also attended it as guests.

In 2004, Nature’s Beckon-led movement succeeded in compelling the Government to concede to the demand for the Dehing-Patkai WLS. But, its area was confined to a mere 111.19 sq km. It included only 24-sq-km area of the richest Joypore RF, and also excluded vast areas of Dirak and Upper Dehing RFs. This defeated the 2002 declaration, adopted at the State Government-sponsored Lekhapani forest festival, which announced ‘a solemn oath to protect and preserve the rich bio-diversity of Assam.’ Significantly, at that time, a move was on in Delhi, the national capital, to enact ‘The Biological Diversity Act, 2002,’ consistent with the spirit of the United Nations June 5, 1992 Rio de Janeiro Biological Diversity Convention.

The Rio Convention had set the tune for conservation movement worldwide. It had powerful impacts on the Indian Government and the people of Assam. However, the Assam Forest Department remained impassive, under the Minister, who is now seemed to be overactive ‘in saving Dehing-Patkai.’ To frustrate the rainforest protection movement, a Joint Secretary working under him, notified in 2003 an elephant reserve, comprising a 937-sq-km part of the Dehing-Patkai area, without conducting any survey on elephant behaviour and movement in this part and not giving a damn to the fact that elephant corridors and reserves lack legal sanctity under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act.

Earlier, on December 12, 1996, a bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India Justice J S Verma passed an interim order, in Writ Petition (Civil) No 202 of 1995, imposing a blanket ban on tree felling and non-forestry activities in forests across the country.

Then, why the then Assam Forest Minister was unwilling to concede to the demand for creating a WLS comprising 500- sq- km area of Dehing-Patkai and lost the chance for creating history by developing it as a heritage forest? We leave all these to be answered by the ex-Forest Minister concerned.

Interested people may examine here some of the facts to have a grasp of the ground reality of that time. Despite the 1996 Supreme Court order banning tree felling in forest areas, in 2006-07, there were four plywood mills, one veneer mill and nine saw mills under Dibrugarh Forest Division, two plywood mills and two saw mills under Doomdooma Forest Division, one saw mill under Sivasagar Forest Division and seven plywood mills and three saw mills under Digboi Forest Division, with State Government’s ‘license’ to operate. These wood-based industries were mainly dependent on the Dehing-Patkai timber logs. Some of them are still in operation.

Again, the Forest Minister, who was holding also the Power Portfolio for quite some time, told The Economic Times in September, 2014, “Government of India has assured coal linkage to the proposed 660-MW Margherita Thermal Power Project in Assam. Assam’s request for the coal linkage is awaiting clearance from the Centre since 2009.” Assam applied for 1.83 MMT of coal per year from the Eastern Coal Fields so that an equivalent quantum of coal from North Eastern Coal Fields (NECL) can be utilized for the proposed plant at Margherita, the Minister said.

Those, who were out to blight the Dehing-Patkai rainforest conservation movement, are now trumpeting themselves to be the champions of the Dehing-Patkai cause. One has every reason to doubt their credentials.

 Dehing-Patkai is a prized part of our wonderful natural heritage. We unfalteringly want Dehing-Patkai WLS to become a national park, but, comprising its entire 500-sq-km pristine area. Besides, Government should hold effective discussions with the Arunachal Pradesh Government and communities on proper conservation of the Arunachal part of this interstate forest, to develop it into a heritage forest. Its trans-boundary link should also be explored for making it an international heritage forest.

On the issues concerning the degradation of the forest cover in the Dehing-Patkai area, etc, we will prefer to wait till the publication of the Justice B P Katakey Committee report.