Assam proposes 6th national park in militancy ravaged forest

According to the forest department, the proposal has been submitted to the governor of Assam for approving creation of Raimona National Park.

The Assam government has proposed setting up a national park in a militancy ravaged reserve forest, which, if approved, would make it the state’s sixth national park.

Assam forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya unveiling the map of the proposed Raimona National Park on Saturday (Photo Courtesy - Parimal Suklabaidya/Twitter)

Forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya informed on Saturday that the process for approving Raimona National Park has been initiated. He unveiled the map of the new park at Manas National Park.

“Another feather of success will be added to the biodiversity cap of Assam soon as we have initiated the process for approving the proposal for the 6th National Park of Assam, the Raimona National Park. Today we unveiled the map of this upcoming park,” Suklabaidya tweeted.

According to the forest department, the proposal has been submitted to the governor of Assam for upgrading an area of 422 sq km of notified Ripu reserve forest under Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve as the proposed Raimona National Park.

The existing national parks in Assam are Kaziranga, Manas, Dibru-Saikhowa, Manas and Orang.

Ripu reserve forest is part of the buffer zone of Manas national park bordering Bhutan. The forest along with Chirang reserve forest has the largest known population of endangered Golden Langur.

Since 1989, nearly 30% of the reserve forest has been felled and encroached upon due to the insurgency related issues.