Upgrading Poba

It is very heartening to note that the Government of Assam has taken a decision to convert and upgrade the Poba Reserve Forest under Jonai Forest Range in Dhemaji district into a wildlife sanctuary. State forest and environment minister Chandra Mohan Patowary too deserves to be congratulated for having taken this bold step, which obviously has the concurrence of the state chief minister. Patowary’s announcement came in the Assam Assembly in response to a zero-hour notice raised by BJP MLA Bhuban Pegu on Friday. It is very interesting to note that Poba was notified as a reserve forest exactly one hundred years ago during the British era in 1924. Rich in biodiversity with a beautiful landscape, Poba Reserve Forest has been playing a crucial role in saving the environment of the Jonai sub-division. With several rivers flowing through Poba Reserve forest, which enhances the beauty of the area, it is also home to several species of birds, reptiles, monkeys, and wild boars, apart from butterflies, insects, and reptiles. While a section of anti-national elements has been eyeing Poba for encroachment, it has been a long-pending demand of the right-thinking indigenous people of the area declaring the reserved forest as a wildlife sanctuary so that it is saved from deforestation. According to the forest minister, the proposed Poba Wildlife Sanctuary will encompass an area of 257.29 sq. km, including the Poba Reserve Forest, Kabu Chapori Proposed Reserve Forest, and the surrounding riverine areas. The Poba reserve forest, it is important to note, serves as an essential migratory route for various animals, particularly elephants, because it connects the D’Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary (Arunachal Pradesh) with the Kabu Chapori Proposed Reserve Forest and Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Assam. This corridor is also the second significant elephant migration route from the north to the south bank of the Brahmaputra, the other being the Panpur-Kaziranga route. This decision of the Assam government should now be followed by a strong decision to evict encroachers from each and every wildlife sanctuary, national park, and reserve forest in the state.