Context: Recently, the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) has recommended coal mining in a part of an Dehing Patkai elephant reserve in Assam.

Key Points

• Amid the countrywide lockdown, the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) has recommended coal mining in a part of an elephant reserve in Assam.
• The NBWL’s Standing Committee discussed a proposal for use of land from the Saleki proposed reserve forest land for a coal mining project by North-Easter Coal Field (NECF), a unit of Coal India Limited.
• Saleki is a part of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve.

Recommendations of Panel

• 57.20 ha of hilly forestland had already been broken up by the user agency (NECF) and the remaining 41.39 ha was unbroken.
• Panel recommended a “cautious approach” for preserving the “basic integrity of this forested hill slope” that is a part of the elephant reserve in Assam adjoining Arunachal Pradesh’s Deomali Elephant Reserve with “a sizeable population of elephants.”
• Panel recommended for approval” the proposal for mining in the broken-up area after the user agency submits a rectified site-specific mine reclamation plan in consultation with the Assam Forest Department.

About Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary

• Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve includes the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary.
• The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is also known as the Jeypore Rainforest.
• It is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam.
• It has Three Parts:Dirok Rainforest, Upper Dihing River, and Jeypore.
• Dehing is the name of the river that flows through this forest and Patkai is the hill at the foot of which the sanctuary lies.
• Fauna: Rare fauna found in the region include Chinese pangolin, flying fox, wild pig, sambar, barking deer, gaur, serow and Malayan giant squirrels.
• It is the only sanctuary in India which is home to seven different species of wild cats - tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, leopard cat, golden cat, jungle cat and marbled cat.
• Flora: Dehing Patkai is a deciduous rainforest interspersed with semi-evergreen and lush green flora.
• The forest is often referred to as “The Amazon of the east” owing to its large area and thick forests.