GUWAHATI

The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government and the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) to ensure no further encroachment takes place in the 2,837 sq. km. Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve, which borders Bhutan.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury passed the order on July 31, 2026, seeking status quo until the next date of hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by eastern Assam-based environmental activist Rohit Choudhury.

In the PIL, the activist sought a writ of mandamus against the Assam government and the BTC to remove unauthorised encroachments from the transboundary Manas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He submitted that large-scale encroachments have taken place in the core area of Manas National Park, particularly in the Panbari and Betbari areas.

One of the major encroachers, Mr. Choudhury pointed out, was the Kokilabari Seed Farm. “…a big parcel of the land continues to be used for cultivation under the control of the Agriculture Department of the BTC,” the petition read.

Additional Advocate General P.N. Goswami accepted the notice on behalf of the Assam government and the Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Department, while standing counsel, N. Choudhury, accepted it on behalf of the BTC.

The court ordered notices to the other respondents — the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and the Field Director of Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve — returnable on October 7, 2026. The court also directed the authorities to prevent any fresh encroachment within the protected area.

Forest officials entrusted with managing the tiger reserve said the encroachment issue has been under discussion before the PIL was filed. “The talks for the Kokilabari matter are ongoing,” a senior official said.

Letters of concern

In May, Mr. Choudhury wrote to Assam’s Chief Secretary and the NTCA, drawing their attention to the encroachment of 3,558.32 bighas of land by the Kokilabari Seed Farm in the Bhuyanpara Range of Manas Tiger Reserve. A bigha in Assam is approximately 0.3306 acre.

Mr. Choudhury cited a September 1, 2025 letter by the tiger reserve’s Field Director to the Baksa and Chirang District Commissioners, highlighting large-scale encroachment of land measuring more than 18,000 bighas. According to the letter, 7,520 people across 1,522 houses/structures have been illegally occupying a total of 14,545.62 bighas in the Bhuyanpara and Panbari Ranges of the tiger reserve.

About the seed farm “illegally occupying 3,558.32 bighas”, the letter said: “The said area was given on a 30-year lease to the GoI [Government of India] to establish Central Seed Farm, which expired in 2001. It is currently being given on lease for agriculture by the BTC Government, and communication has been made to BTC to hand over the land to Manas National Park.”

Mr. Choudhury also brought to the notice of the NTCA a letter dated October 25, 2023, by Assam’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) to the Additional Chief Secretary in charge of the Environment and Forest Department, noting that the Kokilabari Seed Farm “forms part of the core/critical tiger habitat of the Manas Tiger Reserve”. The PCCF said the State government should pressure the BTC government to hand over 9.3 sq. km. of land at Kokilabari to the Manas Tiger Reserve authorities at the earliest.

“Despite lapse of more than two years from the date of the PCCF’s letter, it is understood that no steps have been taken by the Assam government to reclaim the land encroached by the Kokilabari Seed Farm,” Mr. Choudhury wrote to the Chief Secretary and the NTCA.

According to Section 34A (Power to remove encroachment) in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, any officer not below the rank of an Assistant Conservator of Forests may evict any person who occupies a wildlife sanctuary or national park in contravention of the provisions of the Act.

Section 34A also empowers an officer not below the rank of Deputy Conservator of Forests to remove any unauthorised structures, buildings, or constructions erected on any government land within any wildlife sanctuary or national park, and confiscate all the things, tools and effects belonging to such person after giving him or her an opportunity to be heard.

Published - August 06, 2026 05:23 pm IST