Why nod to Vedanta’s oil exploration plans in wildlife sanctuary has stirred a debate in Nagaland
CM Neiphiu Rio has proposed sharing revenue with Assam rather than oppose the project. But Naga leaders claim the drilling site belongs to the community.
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On November 15, officials from the Union environment ministry, the Wildlife Institute of India and the Assam forest department entered the eco-sensitive zone of the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam’s Jorhat district.
They were there to inspect a site, 13 km from the sanctuary, which the Vedanta group proposed to drill to look for potential hydrocarbon reserves.
What the officials did not know was that the site lies in a contested area on the Assam-Nagaland border, called the disputed area belt. Both states have questioned each other’s claims on this terrain for over 60 years.
“We thought it was the Assam reserve forest,” a member of the team told Scroll. “When we approached the ground near the drilling site, we had to enter through a check post and the Nagaland border magistrate was waiting for us.”
Angry residents of Naga villages in Mokokchung district, bordering Jorhat, refused to allow the officials to carry out the inspection without a permission from the village council. “Any developmental activities in this area has to be with the consensus of both the states,” Mokokchung deputy commissioner Thsuvisie Phoji told Scroll.
Moreover, according to Naga customary laws, land does not belong to the state – but is owned collectively by the tribe...
