What is Dehing Patkai and why you must be concerned?

What is Dehing Patkai?

Dehing Patkai is a wildlife sanctuary covering an area of 111.19 sq km of rainforest. It is part of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. The name is derived from the river 'Dehing', which flows through the forest and 'Patkai' is the hill at the foot of which the sanctuary lies. It is also known as Jeypore rainforest. It is termed as the Amazon of the East because of the dense forest cover. Besides it is the only surviving rainforest in Assam.

Where is it situated?

It is situated in the districts of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh. It is part of the Assam Valley tropical wet evergreen forests and consists of three parts: Jeypore, Upper Dehing River and Dirok rainforest.

Why we should be concerned?

The National Board for Wildlife, which is under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, held a meeting on April 7th and gave a green signal for coal mining in the area. The proposal allowed the use of 98.59 hectares of forest land from Saleki, which is part of the Wildlife Sanctuary and several reserve forests in Sibsagar, Tinsukia and Digrugarh districts, for a coal mining project by North-Eastern Coalfields, a unit of Coal India Ltd. The consequences of such a project are gravely huge. A couple of the grim outcomes of this are: depleting the forest cover by a significantly huge margin and also potentially reducing the number of elephants from the Elephant Reserve, which includes the Wildlife Sanctuary & other precious species of animals from this highly treasured area.

Design Credits: Abu B Siddik

Interesting Facts and a few endangered species from Dehing Patkai.

Did you know Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is the only place in the world where 7 cat species live in a single rain forest. These are: tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, leopard cat, golden cat, jungle cat and marbled cat. Amazing, right?

A Clouded Leopard

How many of you are aware of our state bird, also an endangered species, the White-Winged Wood Duck? It has a home in Dehing Patkai too. Would you be able to sleep in peace knowing that your own state bird might be extinct in the coming few years? No, right?

A picture of White Winged Wood Duck

Have you ever come across a unique species of Yellow Throaten Marten? Would you want this species to be wiped off before you or your future generations can experience its mesmerizing sight? Or would you rather visit the museum one day to read about them? Below is its picture.

The Yellow Throaten Marten

What about this beautiful bird? This is a pin-tailed green pigeon. Quite charming, isn't it? Don't mistake it for a parrot! Would you like some coal company to remove its habitat from this planet?

Among these, the sanctuary is also home to the Hoolock Gibbon, Slow Loris, Pig-Tailed Macaque, Capped Langur, Himalayan Squirrel, Crab eating Mongoose, Porcupine, Sun Bear, Barking Deer and the list goes on, 90% of which most of you wouldn't have even heard of! Imagine the range of animal species living here. Also, there are 293 different species of birds, 30 species of butterflies and over 100 species of orchids! The enormously rich flora and fauna thriving in this beautiful tropical area is a gift of nature.

Commander butterfly (Moduza procris milonia)

What can we do?

Sign this, for a start.

It is highly unlikely the govt will be willing to reconsider their own decision this easily. Money doesn't grow on trees but who would explain this fact to them! Fiddling with nature and exploiting the natural resources have always been a deep-rooted problem within human beings. Greed and selfishness will one day signal the end of human civilization. Mother Nature won't even blink an eye before making us all perish from this planet. For instance, look at the current situation.

There is very little that we, as citizens can do at the moment. The COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown has limited our choice of protest to a very large extent. And this is the advantage taken by the govt regarding the approval of sensitive projects like this. But the onus has to lie on us too. High time, we get our act together. You can make your voices heard online. Rather than fighting for YouTube and TikTok, share articles and posts regarding this issue via social media platforms. Make this issue reach the concerned authorities. A healthy democracy is one where politicians reach out to the public, other than the time before elections, begging for votes. If our own voices are not given importance in the largest democracy in the world, I suppose Hitler would be laughing his pants off at us from heavens above.