Activist raises concerns over illegal coal mining along Assam’s Eastern Frontier

Digboi, Feb 28: Voicing concern over the expanding footprint of illegal coal mining along Assam’s eastern frontier, an environmental activist has urged upon the State government to notify four vulnerable reserve forests under the Digboi forest division as wildlife sanctuaries, describing it as a necessary step to secure the ecologically sensitive Tirap-Tipong forest corridor.

In a memorandum submitted recently to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma through the district commissioner of Golaghat, activist Apurba Ballav Goswami flagged alleged rat-hole mining activities in the Jagun, Lekhapani and Margherita forest ranges.

He stated that mining operations in the Jagun range under the Doomdoma forest division in Tinsukia district are exerting pressure on forest tracts adjoining the 231.65 sq km Dehing Patkai National Park.

He proposed that the Tirap, Tipong, Saleki and Makumpani reserve forests should be upgraded to wildlife sanctuaries, maintaining that sanctuary notification will provide stronger statutory safeguards against encroachment and mining while ensuring long-term conservation of biodiversity, elephant corridors, and critical river systems in the coal belt region.

A former forest official associated with the Digboi division has supported the proposal, stating that enhanced legal status will improve enforcement and regulation in vulnerable forest areas.

A local wildlife activist also observed that clearly demarcated sanctuary boundaries could help address recurring jurisdictional ambiguity along stretches of the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, particularly near the shifting Leka Haka stream, by strengthening administrative clarity and oversight.

Recent national precedents indicate how protected area notification can act as a legal deterrent against extractive activities.

In November 2025, the Supreme Court of India had directed that mining should be prohibited within a one-kilometre radius of all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries and pressed for notification of the long-pending Saranda Wildlife Sanctuary.

The State government’s notification of the Sikhna Jwhwlao National Park along the Indo-Bhutan border has strengthened conservation in a sensitive frontier landscape.

Meanwhile, an official response from the State government is awaited.