SC queries the Assam government on the demarcation of the Pobitora sanctuary boundaries

The Assam government has been requested by the Supreme Court to provide an estimate of the time required to demarcate the perimeter of the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary. The top court’s bench, led by Justice B R Gavai, expressed astonishment to discover that, even after 25 years, the sanctuary’s perimeter had not been drawn.

The bench included Justice Sandeep Nath requested that the government give the matter immediate attention and utmost priority. Considering how important and significant this problem is, it further cautioned that failing to do so would have dire implications.

The sanctuary, which spans around 38.85 km2 and provides grassland and wetland habitat for Indian rhinoceros, is situated in the Morigaon district of Assam, on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra. It is home to one of Assam’s greatest populations of rhinoceroses.

The Supreme Court was considering a petition by environmental activist Rohit Choudhury, who claimed that in flagrant defiance of a December 11, 2018, decision from the Supreme Court, the authorities had not taken any meaningful action to designate the region around the sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone.

The state’s attorney, Nalin Kohli, requests two weeks to respond to a request for an estimate of when the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary’s true perimeter, as per the March 17, 1998 notification, would be demarcated.

It is quite unexpected that even though the wildlife sanctuary was informed in 1998, the borders remained undefined for a quarter of a century. We hope the state will give the matter the serious attention it needs. It said, “We may notify the state that there would be grave repercussions if they didn’t comply.