Gauhati High Court seeks details on demarcation and earth filling in Deepor Beel

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court today instructed the government advocate to file an affidavit on demarcation of Deepor Beel and the DC to provide details of the land filling in the Ramsar site by the next date of hearing.

A division bench of Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Suman Shyam was hearing a case (PIL 18/2023) filed by Pramod Kalita and two others regarding the protection of Deepor Beel by declaring it an eco-sensitive zone, among other measures. The counsel for the petitioners informed the HC that land filling was going on in the Deepor Beel area and requested that it be stopped until the demarcation of the Ramsar site is completed.

The HC bench pointed out that the Accountant General, Assam, had submitted during an earlier hearing that a draft notification declaring the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone has already been prepared and will be placed before the state cabinet for approval within a period of two weeks and that, after approval by the cabinet, the notification will be forwarded to the central government for final approval.

The bench was miffed that no affidavit was filed by the District Commissioner on the subject of land filling, asking for details of the area where the land filling was going on after consulting with the departments and officials concerned. The physical appearance of the DC was ordered today itself.

Moreover, the HC instructed government advocate D. Nath to file an affidavit regarding the demarcation of the Deepor Beel by the revenue department. The counsel for GMC P Naik informed the bench that demarcation has been completed by the Guwahati revenue circle and that the Azara revenue circle has yet to complete the demarcation. He also said no earth filling was taking place in the Deepor Beel area and that the earth filling was happening on Patta land to avoid water logging. He sought three weeks’ time to file an affidavit.

The petitioner sought the court’s intervention to stop land filling until the process of demarcation was completed. The matter of land use was also raised.

The bench ordered the affidavits to be placed before the green bench in the last week of July.

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