Guwahati, Jan. 13: The Standing Committee of National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) has permitted exploratory drilling in the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, but made it clear that no extraction will be allowed in case any reserves are discovered at the site.

The proposed drilling site of around 4.49 hectares is around 13 km from the sanctuary that has a notified ESZ of 264.92 sq km. The project site is at a disputed area between Assam and Nagaland near Mariani in Jorhat district.

The user agency-Cairn Oil & Gas-has given an undertaking that exploratory drilling at this particular site is only for the purpose of discovery of hydrocarbon reserves in the area. Any extraction of the hydrocarbon reserves discovered would be carried out from outside the ESZ of the sanctuary.

The NBWL committee also directed the State Pollution Control Board and the forest department to ensure direct control and continuous vigilance over the operations while the Director General of Hydrocarbon will oversee all the controls and operations.

"Any violations of PCB norms shall result in immediate suspension of the operation and termination of the project and necessary legal actions will be taken against the project proponent," the committee said, issuing a set of dos and don'ts.

When an inspection committee pointed out that there has been incidences of brutal killing of elephants near the area, the chairman of the committee expressed concerns that such incidents are not reported to the ministry.

"The forest department officials shall take prompt actions against the offenders in such cases. He directed that the action taken against the offenders responsible for such brutal killings of and injuries to elephants in Assam would be reviewed as part of 'Agenda for Action Taken Reports' in future meetings of the Standing Committee," the minutes of the committee's 81st meeting stated.

Notably in October 2024, a call to oppose the proposed exploration and drilling activities by Cairn Oil and Gas on 4.49 hectares of land near the Assam-Nagaland border, close to the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Jorhat district, was given by civil society organisations in Mariani.

Individuals and civil society organisations, while voicing serious concern over the fact that the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change granted approval to the Vedanta-owned Cairn Oil and Gas's proposal for exploration activities, also expressed apprehension of an adverse environmental impact that may pose a grave threat to the hoolock gibbon species, the only ape found in India, which is an endangered denizen of the 20.98 sq km wild-life sanctuary.

Forest Division, which is also home to six other primate species, over 200 species of birds, including the white-winged wood duck and the state bird of Assam, which figures as endangered on the IUCN list of threatened species. Butterflies, insects, frogs, leopards, elephants, jungle cats, civet cats, mongoose, Chinese pangolin, Indian fox, barking deer, sambar deer, Malayan giant squirrel, and many other wildlife species are found in the sanctuary.

- By Rituraj Borthakur