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Gauhati HC orders Assam refinery to demolish wall blocking elephant movement
In an order passed on February 8, the high court said that it cannot interfere with the directions issued by the National Green Tribunal in 2016
The Gauhati high court has dismissed two writ petitions filed by Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) that challenged an order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to demolish a 2-km-long boundary wall constructed by the company in an elephant corridor of a proposed reserve forest that blocked the movement of the wild animals.
In an order passed on February 8, Justice Devashis Baruah held that the court cannot interfere with the directions issued by the NGT in 2016 and also held that NRL was not entitled to any relief. A copy of the order was made available on Friday.
Acting on applications filed by conservationist and RTI activist Rohit Choudhury, the NGT had in August 2016 ordered the wall to be demolished within a month and directed that the proposed township planned by NRL in the area should not be constructed.
The NGT also directed NRL to pay ₹25 lakh to the Assam forest department for the “destruction of forest cover” and flattening a hill to build a golf course, and asked the refinery for “compensatory afforestation of 10 times the number of trees felled” to build the wall.
The green tribunal asked the Assam government to not allow any developmental activities within a radius of 15km of the NRL and notify the Deopahar proposed reserve forest (PRF), which is used as an elephant corridor and located around 15-20km from the Kaziranga National Park, into a reserve forest.
The wall and the proposed township, which is part of the Deopahar PRF, falls in a no-development zone declared by the Union environment ministry in 1996 and any non-forest activity in the area would be in violation of a Supreme Court order issued in 1996 (in a separate case).
Following the NGT order, NRL filed a review application in the tribunal. Responding to the petition, the Assam government said in an affidavit that only 1 hectare of the total 9 hectares in which the wall was constructed was part of Deopahar PRF. It stated that the 1 hectare was surrendered by NRL to Assam government and the latter demolished the portion of the wall in that area in March 2018.
The NGT, however, dismissed the review application in August 2018 stating that “re-hearing on merits was not permissible”.
Following this, NRL filed a writ petition in Gauhati HC in 2018 asking the court to restrain the Golaghat disrict authorities not to demolish the entire boundary wall.
Even while the petition was pending in Gauahti HC, NRL filed an appeal against the NGT orders in the Supreme Court in 2018. But that was dismissed by the apex court in January 2019.
In August 2019, NRL filed another writ petition in the high court stating that the company already complied with the NGT order of August 2016, mentioning that there was no notification on the area as an elephant corridor, and if there was one, it was the state government’s fault for allocating it to NRL.
It also sought the court’s directions to purchase the entire 9 hectares from the Assam government at a cost of ₹1.76 crores.
“Delighted by the judgement. Wildlife conservation interests have been protected. The demolition of the wall would be iconic and will send a positive message. Elephants have the first right over forests,” said activist Choudhury. He was also among the respondents in the writ petitions filed in Gauhati HC.
