The lynching of two adventure enthusiasts a fortnight ago has put the focus on rampant mining, quarrying and stone crushing activities that are threatening the ecology of the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape.
Two friends — audio engineer Nilotpal Das, 29, and businessman Abhijeet Nath, 30 — were beaten to death by a mob at Panjuri Kachari village in Karbi Anglong district on June 8. The police said a man with a criminal past had spun a story of child abductors to get them killed by gullible villagers. Reports later suggested that Nilotpal and Abhijeet could have been silenced for knowing too much about illegal mining and stone quarrying while exploring the area around a waterfall named Kangthilangso. The area where the duo was killed is close to the Kaziranga National Park, home to the largest population of one-horned rhinos in the world.
Outlining the threat posed to the rhino habitat, also a tiger reserve, environmentalist and RTI activist Rohit Choudhury has complained about the non-implementation of the recommendations of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) by the Assam government for stopping all mining, quarrying and stone crushing activities in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape.
‘NTCA ignored’
“The NTCA had in its report on April 20 asked the State government to immediately stop such activities that are severely hampering the survival and conservation of the tiger, its habitats, co-predators, prey, including mega herbivores, and their transit routes during the annual flood season,” Mr. Choudhury said on Saturday.
During floods, animals of low-lying Kaziranga National Park flee to the adjoining kills of Karbi Anglong district. Some stone mines and quarries are on their transit routes. “The NTCA found that stone mining/quarrying and stone crushers in the area between Kaziranga and the Karbi Anglong hills are responsible for the destruction of wildlife corridors and vital wildlife habitat essential for long ranging species like Indian elephants and tigers. In addition, these stone mining/quarrying and stone crushers are also responsible for drying up and siltation of several natural streams and rivulets flowing from the Karbi Anglong hills towards Kaziranga,” Mr. Choudhury wrote in his letter.
The Assam government, he said, has shown “complete disregard” to the NTCA’s recommendations.
Accusing the State Forest Department of corruption, Mr. Choudhury sought action from the Union Ministry.
