People, administration must work together
The eviction drive carried out by the Government of Assam in a village near Kaziranga National Park on Monday must be seen in the larger context of the growing man-animal conflicts due to large illegal encroachments around such habitats. This drive, in which two lives were unfortunately lost, was a larger effort of the Government to clear the adjoining areas of the park from years of encroachments. It was done under instructions from the Gauhati High Court. Two organisations, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, a left-wing peasant body, and the All Assam Muslim Students' Union, accused the BJP-led Government of Sarbananda Sonowal of targeting the minority community in the name of clearing illegal establishments around the park. While the administration must ensure that communal clashes don't occur, it is wrong to give a communal colour to the drive. The Government's claim that the illegal settlers were ready to vacate but were instigated not to do so, must be noted. These are just the types of interventions that create law and order situations and also fan communal passions.
The park, listed in the World Heritage site in 1985, has been facing fast encroachments for decades. In its report on the ‘Performance Audit of Kaziranga National Park — Issues and Challenges of Government of Assam', the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India in 2015, highlighted the illegal construction of a number of dhabas in the Bokakhat Revenue Circle within the vicinity of two to three kilometres of the park boundary. Indeed, such constructions have increasingly turned the agricultural lands into commercial settlements, leading to massive pollution and providing safe haven to poachers and mafias for years. Hotels, garages and resorts, which came up with the tacit permission of local authorities, have already encroached on Government land, crossing both sides of the national highway near the park. This has not only obstructed the effective management of one of the world's most important heritage sites, but also seriously restricted the natural corridor of animal movement.
In 2015, the National Green Tribunal asked the Assam Government to submit a detailed map of the park and restrict the construction of structures within five kilometres of the park. Had this been adhered to, the latest conflict could have been avoided. The State Government, mainly the forest department, should have done away with these commercial activities long before they grew into huge businesses. The rising human settlements and their socio-economic needs have put tremendous pressure on forest land in Kaziranga. The massive poaching network in and around the park can be stopped to a great extent by removing illegal constructions. The State Government's current drive, even if it has been triggered by a court directive, must be welcomed as it will ensure the preservation of rare wildlife in the park.