The Centre and the Assam government have been ordered by the Supreme Court to reply to a request for instructions to declare and clear all encroachments from the region around the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the state government have received notifications from a three-judge panel made up of Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath, and Sanjay Karol about the wildlife sanctuary in Assam.
Release notification, due back on July 12, 2023. The bench declared that it was free to function as the standing attorney for the State of Assam.
Environmental campaigner Rohit Choudhury asked for instructions to quickly and exactly define the perimeter of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in a petition that was being heard by the highest court.
According to the petition, the Wildlife Protection Act's 1998 notification of the sanctuary's boundary has not yet been precisely delineated, and the district administration has not yet transferred control of the Khas land (government-controlled land), which makes up a portion of the sanctuary, to the Forest department.
The petition claimed that, despite a Supreme Court ruling issued on December 11, 2018, the authorities had done nothing to officially designate the region around the sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ).
The argument said that the Pobitora sanctuary's exact boundaries had not yet been physically established, despite twenty-five years having passed. “…As is evident from the series of letters exchanged between various forest officials as well as those with the Deputy Commissioner, Morigaon district,” the plea read.
According to the notice from March 17, 1998, “Direct the respondents to precisely demarcate the boundary of the Pobitora Wild Life Sanctuary as per notification dated March 17, 1998 without any further delay.”
