A CORRESPONDENT
JAMUGURIHAT: An area of 25.7 sq.km was annexed to Kaziranga National Park (KNP) as 9th addition on Saturday.
The new area of KNP 9th addition starts from the western ending part of KNP 6th addition and extends up to the river bank of Jiya Bharali River of Jamugurihat. Sootea LAC MLA Padma Hazarika initiated the grand mission which the State Government consented. The State Government has decided to hand over the land to the KNP authority. On Saturday, the bhoomi pujan was carried out which was graced by P. Shiv Kumar, Director of KNP, DFO Biswanath Kumud Das along with forest officials. The area of new addition shares boundary with the Bharalipariya Kanyaka Bohumukhi Paam, to which the State Government had allotted an area of 1,176 bighas of land recently. Out of the allotted land, Sootea MLA Padma Hazarika has allowed some land for extension of KNP. Notably, the vast riverside area of the Jiya Bharali River has been encroached upon by illegal settlers. The newly-extended area of KNP falls under the jurisdiction of Easter Zone of Biswanath wildlife division. Forest guards have started safeguarding the area.