For long-term preservation plan Karbi Hills should be brought under Kaziranga and the construction of hotels and resorts in between KNP and Karbi Hills should stop
The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve forest, which was declared as the iconic tourist destination in 2018, attracted 3,27,493 tourists in the last fiscal. Among them, 3,13,574 were domestic tourists, and the rest 13,919 foreigners. The park comprises three administrative divisions - Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, Bishwanath Wildlife Division, and Nagaon Wildlife Division. With the total area of 1302.97 square kilometres, the park houses over 2600 one-horned rhinos, and is the largest habitat of the endangered species.
But the park also faces some setbacks like in the past eight years, 85 rhinos have died in KNPTR during floods with 24 dying in 2017 alone. This year around 13 rhinos died because of floods and poaching. Similarly, other animals also get affected because of floods, man-animal conflict and development. The protection of the world heritage site is very vital for the state, but ironically there is “no proper plan” to preserve the park and reserve forest.
A senior official of the forest department talking to GPlus on condition of anonymity said, “There is no proper plan to preserve the Kaziranga National Park as everything is temporary,” adding that there are management plans but there are many constraints too.
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Another forest official said that some areas get mass tourism, while others are neglected. “From Burapahar to Bokakhat in the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, most of the activities are concentrated in the Bagori and Kohra range whereas places like Burapahar are richer yet less visited,” said the official. The official said that there are around 100 hotels and resorts in Kaziranga and all are in the Bagori and Kohra Range. “It's better to diffuse tourism to less visited areas like the North Bank and Nagaon,” said the official.
The official said that it is also required to work on a plan to retain the tourists for longer period of time, so if new hotels are planned outside Kaziranga like Jakhalabandha or Bokakhat, many activities can be planned in the hotels like sound and light show and so on. This will retain the tourists while not disturbing the wild life.
Founder of Assam Environmental NGO Forum Moloy Baruah talking to GPlus said, “There is no plan to preserve Kaziranga National Park,” adding that there are many things the government can do to preserve the world heritage site. He explained that in the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division when people travel from Jakhalabandha towards Bokakhat, (around 66 kilometeres) on the left is Kaziranga National Park, which is a riverine area because it is adjacent to river Brahmaputra.
“The park area there is a lowland and hence animals are affected during monsoon because of floods,” adding that the animals during floods or whenever they want, cross the road and move towards right where there are some private lands and finally Karbi Anglong Hills which is a forest.
Baruah said that the Karbi Hills may be an area under 6th Schedule but if the government wants it can be purchased and made a part of Kaziranga National Park. He said that there are nine animal corridors between KNP and the Karbi hills, but during floods animal crossing is not only restricted to the corridors but they can cross from any place along the stretch.
Baruah said that the mushrooming hotels and resorts in the right side of the road towards Karbi Hills are affecting the movement. “Karbi hills should be made a part of Kaziranga Park and the hotels and resorts in between should be relocated,” said Baruah adding that there are legal cases and orders to preserve Kaziranga Park which are not being followed.
Reports prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in 2011 and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 2018 pointed towards the incessant mining happening in the Karbi Anglong hills adjacent to NH-37 which had led to drastic reduction in forest cover, compelling the wild animals to enter human settlements.
Both these reports recommended a ban on mining in the Karbi Anglong hills. An environmental activist filed a complaint on March 16, 2018 with the centrally empowered committee (CEC), which is a Supreme Court appointed committee set up under some forest case in South India.
The complaint prompted a visit by CEC members to the affected mining sites. The CEC’s report in 2019 highlighted the proliferation of illegal mining in Karbi Anglong hills. Based on the CEC report findings, Supreme Court passed an order in April 2019 directing that all kinds of mining and related activities along the aforesaid Kaziranga National Park area and in the entire catchment area of rivers/streams and rivulets originating in Karbi Anglong Hill ranges and flowing into Kaziranga be stopped.
The national park is spread over two districts of Assam-Golaghat and Nagaon. Most of the park lies on the floodplains of the Brahmaputra river, which forms the northern boundary, with the Karbi Anglong hills to the south. River Diphlu is a tributary of the Brahmaputra. The Karbi Anglong Hills act as the catchment for both the wetlands of Kaziranga as well as the Diphlu and Brahmaputra. The Karbi Anglong Hills together with the wetlands of KNP are integral to the survival of the wildlife in this landscape. Seasonal flooding causes many animals to disperse outside the park, which is an active floodplain, towards the highlands located in and around the Karbi Anglong Hills.
The KNP is surrounded by several notified forests like Panbari Reserve Forest and Deopahar Reserve Forest in Golaghat District, Kukurakata Hill Reserve Forest, Bagser Reserve Forest, Kamakhya Hill Reserve Forest and Deosur Hill Reserve Forest (proposed) in Nagaon District, Bhumuraguri Reserve Forest in Sonitpur District and North Karbi Anglong Wildlife forest in Karbi Anglong district. Thus, maintenance of functional connectivity between KNP and the surrounding forests, especially Karbi Anglong Hills, is imperative to maintaining the integrity of the park and ensuring the survival of the unique wildlife of the park which evolved with this landscape.
“During floods if Karbi Hills are not animal friendly and the spaces in between Karbi Hills and Kaziranga National Park are not free, then the animals will not be safe,”said a forest official working in Kaziranga National Park.
Moloy Baruah suggested that Karbi Hills should be made a part of KNP and if the government want it is possible.
For controlling poaching many steps have been taken by the park authorities, including maintenance of existing and construction of new poaching camps, adequate staffing, providing mobility, patrolling, intelligence gathering, firearms and control over the use of firearms around the park. The park has about 122 anti-poaching camps scattered throughout the Park, including two floating camps on the Brahmaputra river.
A forest official said the similar initiative has to be taken in Karbi Hills which remain unchecked.
The official said for long-term Kaziranga preservation plan Karbi Hills should be brought under Kaziranga and the construction of hotels and resorts in between KNP and Karbi Hills should stop.
An official of tourism department said that the government is planning to construct an elevated corridor over the animal corridors and other than that there is no other plan as such as of now.