Activists Fight Industrial Takeover of Assam Elephant Corridor

Guwahati: Environmentalists are locked in a fight with the Sonitpur district administration over land inside the Depota elephant corridor. Groups including Hati Bandhu demand the government stop handing over protected passage zones to industrial interests. This corridor links Nameri National Park and Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary to Arimora Chapori. It is a lifeline for local herds.

Trouble started when land mafias allegedly tore down official boundary signs. While the administration eventually reinstalled them after public outcry, the pressure to denotify the land persists. Activists argue that turning this area into a commercial zone will trigger more dangerous human-elephant clashes. Industrial projects are already encroaching on farmland near the protected route.

The organizations warned the Assam state government to back off immediately. They stated, "any move to denotify or alter its status could adversely affect elephant movement and escalate human-elephant conflict." Officials now face threats of mass democratic protests if they push ahead with any plans to rezone the corridor along NH-15.