Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Illegal occupiers currently hold 3,558.32 bighas of land inside the core area of Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve. This UNESCO World Heritage site faces mounting pressure as the land remains stalled in bureaucratic limbo. The area, formerly the Kokilabari Seed Farm, sits within the Bhuyanpara Range. Despite repeated requests from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to the Assam government and the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), the handover to park authorities has not happened.
NTCA Assistant Inspector General of Forests Md. Sajid Sultan pushed the issue on July 30, 2026. He demanded Assam Chief Secretary Ravi Kota resolve the matter immediately. The NTCA remains in the dark regarding any progress. Previous letters sent on June 4 and June 11, 2026, failed to trigger action. Copies of these demands went to the BTC Principal Secretary, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Assam Environment and Forest Department, the PCCF (Wildlife), the Field Director of Manas, and commissioners in Baksa, Mushalpur, and Chirang-Kajalgaon.
The Forest Department first flagged the crisis in October 2023. They identified the 9.3 square kilometer plot as critical tiger habitat. The land originally belonged to the North Kamrup Reserve Forest before a 30-year lease for a government seed farm took over. That lease expired in 2001. Since then, the land fell under the protection of the national park, yet the BTC government continues to lease it out for private farming. The Forest Department warned that the delay creates, "scope for avoidable litigation," and urged officials to prioritize the park's integrity.
Conservationist Rohit Choudhury also demanded government intervention in May 2026. He cited earlier alerts from the UNESCO World Heritage Site office regarding ongoing habitat degradation. Previous attempts by the Forest Department to settle the dispute occurred on January 13, 2022, and May 26, 2023, but the Council government has not budged. Officials emphasize that reclaiming this land is vital for the effective management of the reserve.
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