Assam: NBWL Halts Oil & Gas Drilling Proposal at Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, Pending Site Inspection

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has put on hold its Proposal for Oil & Gas Exploration Drilling at Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary.

The final decision will be taken after the site inspection by a committee of NBWL, comprising representatives of MoEFCC, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), and the state forest department.

Recently, a meeting of the standing committee of NBWL chaired by the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change was held, and this decision was taken at the meeting.

According to the minutes of the meeting dated October 15, 2024, the Standing Committee was informed that the proposal is for Oil & Gas Exploration Drilling over an area of 4.4998 ha [Well Pad (Plinth): 1.44 ha and Approach Road: 3.0598 ha] reserve forest area at Well Pad SP-1-East-2 in AA-ONHP-2017/4 Block in the Eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in the Jorhat district.

The proposal has been recommended by the Chief Wild Life Warden, the State Board for Wild Life, and the State Government.

The proposal falls in the RED category, polluting industries. As per the ESZ notification of the Hollongapar-Gibbon Sanctuary and the guidelines issued by the Ministry dated February 9, 2011, the setting of industries causing pollution (water, air, soil, noise, etc.) has been placed in the prohibited category.

During the meeting, it was mentioned that the area of the sanctuary is small compared to the area of the Eco-sensitive Zone around the sanctuary. The Hoolock Gibbons are found only in a small area of the sanctuary.

After discussions, the Standing Committee decided that a site inspection committee comprising representatives of the Ministry, WII, State Forest Department, and other officials may be constituted for site inspection and therefore decided to defer the proposal.

Local residents and environmental groups are miffed at the proposal, and they are opposing it tooth and nail. They stated that the habitat of Hoolock Gibbons and the environment as a whole will be affected if the drilling proposal goes ahead.

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