Guwahati: A site in the buffer zone of the 21 square kilometre Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in upper Assam, and the only protected area (PA) in India named after a species of ape, the endangered Hoolock Gibbon, has been cleared for open oil exploration.
A controversial Indian mining and oil conglomerate accused of lobbying to “dilute” environmental regulations has been granted clearance for oil and gas exploration inside a notified ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) by the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government in the state.
The BJP-led twin engine governments at the Centre and the state in September gave Vedanta’s Cairn India a Stage 1-clearance for oil/gas exploration and drilling on 4.9 hectares of Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary’s (HGS’s) ESZ, much to the chagrin of local conservation activists and populace ushering a volley of protests across Assam.
On October 18, the National Board for Wildlife deferred the permit for the exploration granted to Cairns Oil and Gas, a Vedanta subsidiary.
‘Death knell for ecologically fragile protected area’
The dissenting voices in Assam have all cried foul in unison citing that this clearance will be the death knell for this ecologically fragile PA, akin to an oil disaster that struck another such ESZ region also in upper Assam in 2020.
Alarmed at the immediate perils that a future oil/gas drilling in an ESZ inside a compact wildlife sanctuary, along with a recent past history of an oil blowout disaster that had engulfed Baghjan in upper Assam in 2020, has now compelled a section of dissenting voices to knock at the doors of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to get relief.
This comes close to the heels of the simmering controversy at Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) as chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma-led state government’s hell-bent on setting up a high-end resort and a five-star hotel on spots considered to be the corridors of wild elephants.
For the oil exploration at HGS the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) gave a Principal Nod.
The Indian Express last month reported that a Principal Nod is known as Stage 1- Clearance, and this nod “comes on the back of recommendation for project approval by Assam’s principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden”.
The Indian Express report also mentioned that in a meeting held in August the chief wildlife warden of Assam and the regional office of the Union Environment Ministry had “recommended the clearance of the project”.
In the same news report, it was also mentioned that the “project site falls in the ESZ and that the chief wildlife warden also submitted to the FAC a wildlife conservation plan and human-animal conflict and earmarked Rs 5.57 crore for implementing them.”
The Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary is located in Mariani in the upper Assam district of Jorhat. HGS is within the close proximity of Assam-Nagaland border.
It is a safe haven for the endangered Western Hoolock Gibbon and bears the distinction of “harbouring the highest primate species diversity for any Indian PA” according to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
The small but proud HGS, named after the Hoolong trees which are also extensively used by the Western Hoolock Gibbons, is home to elephants and over 219 avian species, more than 200 species of butterflies, wild boars, rare insects, reptiles and more.
Hoolong trees form complex tree canopies in the area that are essential for the arboreal Western Hoolock Gibbon. The sanctuary is also a site for primate studies. The HGS, therefore, is one of the natural jewels in Assam’s crown, cementing the state’s stature as an ’emerald state’.
HGS is home to various animal species
HGS is also home to the capped langur, stump-tailed macaque, rhesus macaque and the Bengal slow loris. According to a report by the WII, HGS, has the “distinction of harbouring the highest primate species diversity for any Indian PA” (sic).
A railway line passing through the Sanctuary already cuts it into two unequal halves. The movement of animals, including that of Hoolocks, between these two halves is, thus, already under threat. The railway line is also likely to be upgraded to a double track in future.
The same WII report states, “As is clear, the present un-electrified single track 1.65 route-km railway line passing through the HGS has caused distress and posed significant conservation issues to arboreal animals. Hence, a future doubling of the line (if planned) will increase the canopy gap to a larger extent and render any conservation interventions (such as ACB installations) futile” (sic).
The report titled ‘Artificial Canopy Bridge Design to Facilitate Western Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) Crossing over Mariani-Dibrugarh broad-gauge single-track Railway Line in HGS, Assam) was prepared in May 2023 by WII at the behest of the Assam State Forest Department (ASFD) to provide specific design inputs for the installation of such canopy bridges at HGS.
It mentions, “A single track 1.65 route-km long railway line (currently broad gauge, but unelectrified) has fragmented the Sanctuary since 1887 into unequal parts. Over time the Sanctuary has become a ‘forest land’ having lost connectivity with surrounding forest patches” (sic).
It continues as, “Gibbon families on both sides of the railway track have, thus, been effectively isolated from each other, thereby compromising their population genetic variability and further endangering their already threatened survival in the HGS,” (sic)
‘Further loss of habitat will put them in the IUCN Red List’
Following the issuance of clearance, grassroot and civic organisations took to the streets to protest against the Sarma-led state government for its outrageous decision to give clearance the angst then snowballed not just within the Jorhat’s demography but elsewhere in Assam.
The Wire reached out to Dr Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, an expert member of International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an UNESCO advisory body and a commission member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) who warned that such clearance will prove disastrous for the endangered primate.
“As a member of the Commission of IUCN, I express serious displeasure in the way the governments have approved mining at HGS. The Gibbons in Hollongapar are vulnerable. Further loss of habitat will put them in the IUCN Red List. This will bring bad name for the governments of Assam and India as the governments have been party to the approval of mining in the sanctuary. Gibbons need continuous canopy, but mining will lead to fragmentation of the forest and thereby division of the canopies,” he said.
“It will seriously affect the living of the Gibbons as continuity of the canopies will be done away with. Moreover, such drilling sites are a danger of future fire; if that happens, almost the entire habitat will be lost as forest fires spread quickly. We have already witnessed it in Baghjan,” Borkakoti added.
It should be noted that the state government submitted a proposal for diversion of 4. 4998 hectares of HGS forest land for oil/gas exploration and drilling purposes to the ministry.
The state government sought forest clearance under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and based on the provision of the F(C) Act, 1980 a Site Inspection Report (SIR) for the proposal was conducted by the Deputy Inspector General of Forest and Research Officer, Shillong on April 9, 2024, of the deputy director general of forests DDGF (C).
The SIR team comprised officials of the state forest department and representatives of user agency (Vedanta) and it included Nandha Kumar, the divisional forest officer of Jorhat Forest Division; Dilip Kumar Bera DGM (environment); Oinam Priyo Kumar Singh, senior manager (administration and security); and Medosou Lea, lead stakeholder management,
The SIR mentions a table about the legal status of forest lands proposed for diversion as such. It shows the name of the district, area involved and its breakup (in ha), legal status, length and aerial distance of the proposed area from the nearest PA, wildlife sanctuary (WLS) and national parks (NP) in heading boxes.
Forest land for diversion falls within HGS
Among the many detail boxes, one mentions Jorhat Forest division with 4.4998 hectares, Dissoi Valley Reserved Forest as having legal status, and that the proposed forests land for diversion as “Falls within the ESZ of Hollongapar Gibbon WLS.”
A question in the SIR on whether forest area proposed for diversion is important from wildlife point of view or not is also answered as, “There is evidence of elephant movement (dung and footprint) in and around the proposed site as per the DFO. The Nodal Officer (FCA) recommended the proposal subject to condition that the UA shall deposit 2% of the proposed cost for Wildlife Conservation purpose and HEC mitigation measures for the region” (sic).
It also states, “The terrain of the proposed area is hilly and the impact in the region due to removal of trees will disturb its ecological balance, however, can be reduced by stringently complying towards the prescribed rules and guidelines and also take necessary precautionary stabilization measures to avoid landslide” (sic).
In point number 20, under the situation with reference to any protected area, the SIR states, “The project area is located in ECZ of HGWLS. There is evidence of elephant movement in the area as reported by the DFO and as also indicated by the lying elephant faeces on the approach road during the site inspection” (sic).
The forest department has thus effectively admitted that the area where the oil well is proposed is used by elephants. The oil well, therefore, could further exacerbate human-elephant conflict in the area. However, the department, instead of working towards avoiding such conflicts, proposes that the new conflicts that could occur due to the well be mitigated with funds allocated for this purpose.
It states, “That the nodal officer (FCA) recommended the proposal with 2% of total cost to be earmarked for Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) and Wildlife Conservation purpose. The approved HEC mitigation and Wildlife Conservation Plan approved by the CWLW is to be submitted before the final approval and the state government shall ensure the strict implementation in the proposed site and its surrounding” (sic).
“This is outrageous. This is one of the last refuges of the endangered Western Hoolock Gibbon in Assam. The tree dwelling gibbons need continuous canopy, but the proposed drilling will further fragment their habitat,” Mubina Akhtar, a noted wildlife conservation activist and a journalist, told The Wire.
In a copy of the minutes of the 16th meeting of state board of wildlife, Assam which was held on July 18 Agenda No. 10 (b) mentions Wildlife Clearance for Oil and Gas Exploration Drilling at Well Pad by M/s Vedanta Ltd (Div. Cairn Oil and Gas). It continues as such:
“The drill/site well-pad is falling in Dessoi Valley Reserve Forest under Jorhat Forest Division and Notified ESZ of Hollongapar Gibbon WLS. The drill site/well-pad is located at a distance of approximately 13 kms from the boundary of notified Hollongapar Gibbon WLS. The proposal was recommended by the Board subject to strict adherence to the conditions laid out by DFO, Jorhat Division and CWLW, Assam,” (sic).
Angst among the civil society organisations and people of Jorhat
The Brihattar Jorhat District Citizens’ Society, a civic organisation, has been constantly protesting against the Sarma-led state government’s decision to give a green signal to an oil and gas exploration project.
The members have made a public appeal through a letter as part of a signature campaign in which around four hundred plus signatories have already been included.
The society will now approach the NGT, and in the coming weeks will try to meet the Governor of Assam as well.
“Within the approaching weeks we will take legal recourse to highlight the issue. There are other parties as well who will be also taking the same legal route. What the state government has done is they have changed the Forest Act. They should have at least listened to the public,” said Tridib Dutta, the general secretary of the citizens collective.
Apurba Ballav Goswami a local journalist and environmentalist based near Kaziranga said it should also be noted that Mariani where the HGS is located is close to the Nagaland border and there have been many instances of hostilities between the local people and Nagas from across the border.
Artists protest for Hollongapar Gibbon WLS
After protests against oil exploration at Hollongapar Gibbon WLS intensified via media coverages and on social media platforms, an image of a mural on a public space of a flyover wall near an important traffic point in Guwahati with a Hoolock Gibbon contemplating about its immediate future was widely shared on Facebook.
The mural artist Marshall Baruah an independent artist in his graffitiesque depiction had written KICK OUT VEDANTA SAVE HOOLOCK GIBBON in the mural’s background. Baruah continued his “public-service-awareness” streak in Jorhat and Sibsagar districts as well.
It is not known by who but that mural on a public space wall was then wiped off some days later.
He said, “I am a diehard nature aficionado, and I worship mother nature. This entire episode is a serious issue. It is about the future of the endangered species. If they go, we are next. Maybe the state government was offended and wiped it off. I felt bad,” said Baruah.
Himanshu Prasad Das an independent filmmaker, writer and director took part in an inclusive protest against the proposed oil and natural gas exploration at Hollongapar Gibbon WLS.