Environmentalists in the country have strongly opposed Oil India Limited’s (OIL) recent permission to explore for hydrocarbons in the Upper Dihing Sanctuary in Tinsukia district. According to a report in The Assam Tribune, Kaziranga Wildlife Society and environmental activist Moucham Hazarika demanded a complete ban on all mining activities in this sensitive forest area, warning that such steps would pose a serious threat to the natural balance of the region.
The approval granted under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, will utilize about 4.9 hectares of forest land under the Digboi Forest Division. The proposed site is part of the Dihing Patkai Elephant Project, known as an important habitat and migration route for wild elephants. Kaziranga Wildlife Society, the state’s oldest NGO, said in a statement that Dihing Patkai is Assam’s last life-giving rainforest, which is already under threat from activities like coal mining, oil exploration, encroachment and illegal logging. The organization noted that protecting the state’s remaining natural forests is not only an environmental responsibility but also essential to secure the future of future generations. The organization claims that allowing polluting industrial activities to continue in such sensitive ecosystems will cause irreparable and far-reaching damage to the rainforest.
The Dihing Patkai Rain Forest, known as the ‘Amazon of the East’, is one of the major tropical rainforests in Assam. It is home to eight species of feline wildlife as well as various herbivores, carnivores and birds, many of which have yet to be documented. In such a situation, allowing mining would impede the movement of elephants and pose a threat to both wildlife and local people.
To implement the project, approximately 135 trees of forest with a canopy density of 0.8 (eco-class 1) will be harvested, representing a very dense and intact forest stand. The forest is home to more than 500 elephants, 47 species of mammals, rare species like tigers, clouded leopards, wild boars and Himalayan black bears and about 293 species of birds. He also warned that road construction for mining, pit digging, waste disposal and the risk of oil spillage through deep boreholes would severely damage the area’s sensitive biodiversity. While compensatory afforestation was proposed in another district, Hazarika made it clear that it could never compensate for the irreparable loss of an ancient rainforest, and there were always doubts about implementing such conditions in practice. So far, there has been no official response from Oil India Limited or the government amid strong opposition from environmentalists.