Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: A critical wildlife corridor is missing from official Assam state records. The Panbari passage connects Kaziranga National Park to the Karbi Anglong hills. Nine corridors were originally identified by a government committee under Order No. FRS.142/2018/474 on May 4, 2019. The panel finished its report that August.
The state issued Gazette Notification No. FRW.7/2022/Pt.V/01 on April 1, 2022. It promised protection for nine specific paths: Panbari, Haldhibari, Bagori, Harmati, Kanchanjuri, Hatidandi, Deosur, Chirang, and Amguri. The government website now lists only eight. Panbari is gone. This gap has remained uncorrected for over four years.
Suspicion centers on the timing of the omission. The Panbari corridor cuts through the Methoni Tea Estate. RCP Solutions and Services Private Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, acquired this estate in 2022. That is the exact year officials published the flawed notification. No evidence confirms the exclusion was intentional to bypass environmental rules. The government has offered no explanation for the error.
Local wildlife still relies on the path. Animals ignore bureaucratic paperwork. A local conservationist noted, "Elephants cross the highway through this corridor, move towards paddy fields in search of food and return to the forest in the early morning." These herds have moved through this route for generations. Usage spikes during monsoon floods when animals flee inundated areas.
Speculation has grown regarding the area. Reports suggest rare earth element deposits exist near Panbari and Geleki. This remains unverified. Meanwhile, the state’s failure to protect the corridor clashes with Supreme Court mandates. Those rules require protection for animal paths to prevent degradation. The state government remains silent on why the record is incomplete.
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