Wildlife board defers nod for Vedanta’s oil exploration in gibbon habitat, clears road expansion in Rajasthan tiger reserve

The Hoolock Gibbon is India’s only ape species and the shy, arboreal animals number only between 120-130 in the forests of Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary and surrounding Dessoi reserve. Though Cairn Oil and Gas’s oil exploration is proposed in the eco-sensitive zone away from the sanctuary, the NBWL decided to defer the proposal until a site visit is carried out.

The site inspection committee will comprise representatives of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Wildlife Institute of India, the Assam forest department and Raman Sukumar, a wildlife scientist and independent member of the board.

Last month, the environment ministry’s forest advisory committee, which grants prior approvals for development works and industries on forest land, had granted preliminary permissions for oil exploration in the Hoolock Gibbon habitat.

The state forest department had recommended the exploration to the Centre citing national interest.

Indian Railway Construction International Limited (IRCON) has proposed 25 KV electrification of a 9-km stretch on the Lumding-Dibrugarh section of the Northeast Frontier Railway. A 1.65 km stretch of railway line fragments the Gibbon sanctuary. With regards to this railway electrification project, the NBWL cleared subject to conditions that train speeds should be restricted based on prescriptions of the state forest department and that adequate animal passage plans should be executed.

In May 2023, the Wildlife Institute of India had prepared a report on the animal passages that can be built to allow the Hoolock Gibbons to cross 1.65 km of the old railway track passing through the sanctuary. It had recommended the construction of artificial and natural canopy bridges for the safe passage of Gibbons. The NBWL also asked the railway authorities to not energise the electric wires until wildlife passages are in place.

The road widening in Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve, submissions to the NBWL show, would require 28.8 hectares of forest land from the buffer zone of the reserve in Bundi district of Rajasthan. The widening proposal was for National Highway-12 between Laxmipura-Dora-Daba-Ranaji ka Guda.

A site inspection committee comprising members of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Rajasthan forest department and the wildlife division of the environment ministry visited the road project site and recommended the plan with conditions.

The wildlife board said in its conditional clearance for the project that the Rajasthan Forest department should provide inputs on locations frequently used by wild animals to cross the roads and construct animal underpasses, apart from those proposed at five locations.

The wildlife board said that for every kilometre passing through the forest areas in the buffer zones, an underpass shall be constructed for an overall extent of 50-metre span which shall include underpasses of minimum 30-metre spans, box culverts and pipe culverts.