Supreme Court panel pulls up Assam Government for inaction on mining near Kaziranga

This issue underscores the critical importance of eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) and wildlife corridors in biodiversity conservation. The Kaziranga National Park, renowned for its one-horned rhinoceros population, relies on the adjacent Karbi Anglong hills as an essential refuge during annual floods. The failure to notify the nine identified animal corridors isolates the park's wildlife, exacerbating human-wildlife conflict (HWC), as evidenced by elephant deaths in the Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve. Unregulated mining in the Parkup Pahar range and catchment areas disrupts the natural drainage system, leading to habitat degradation. The CEC's demand for a comprehensive Watershed Drainage Analysis Report highlights the need for landscape-level conservation strategies rather than isolated protected area management, a key theme in GS Paper 3.

The situation exposes a breakdown in the implementation of judicial directives and a lack of coordination between different tiers of governance. The Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), which administers the district under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, is accused of bypassing environmental regulations and failing to present a holistic picture to the courts. This friction between autonomous district councils (seeking revenue from mining) and state/national conservation mandates highlights the complexities of decentralized governance in environmentally sensitive areas. The CEC's repeated warnings to the Assam Chief Secretary regarding non-compliance with the 2019 Supreme Court of India order reflect the persistent challenge of enforcing environmental jurisprudence at the grassroots level, relevant for GS Paper 2 discussions on statutory bodies and local governance.

The geography of the region is central to the conflict. Kaziranga National Park is situated on the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River. During the monsoon, these plains are inundated, forcing wildlife to migrate southwards to the higher elevations of the Karbi Anglong hills. The rivers and streams originating in these hills flow into the park, sustaining its wetland ecosystems. Mining activities in these catchment areas alter the hydrology, increasing sedimentation and potentially choking the park's water bodies. The Supreme Court's ban on mining in these specific watersheds recognizes the interconnectedness of upland and lowland ecosystems, a fundamental concept in physical geography and environmental impact assessments.