The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam, and it covers 111.19 sq. km. This rare rainforest is situated in the foothills of the Himalayan range. It is a part of the Assam valley tropical wet evergreen forest. Dehing is a river that flows through it, and Patkai is the hill on the foot of which the river flows. It was declared as a sanctuary on June 13, 2004.

Dehing Patkai, famously known as ‘Amazon of the East’, is the largest rainforest in India, home to many endangered species and is believed to be the last remaining contiguous patch of lowland rainforest area in Assam, extending up to the Deomali elephant reserve in Arunachal Pradesh . These rainforests straddling the Dehing River and the Patkai range of the Eastern Himalayas, which comprise the Indo-Burma global biodiversity hotspot, is a complex yet delicate ecosystem .According to the Forest Department of Assam, there are 46 species of mammals, 71 species of reptiles, 290 species of wild birds, 276 species of butterflies, 70 species of fish, 70 species of dragonflies, 101 species of orchids and thousands of other insects are found in the sanctuary. Located on the southern bank of Brahmaputra, Dehing Patkai is also home to many Asiatic elephants. Thousands of trees belonging to 61 rare species like Hollang, Mekai, Dhuna, Udiyam, Nahar, Samkothal, Bheer, Hollock, Elephant-apple, Fig etc keep the rainforest pristine. Dehing Patkai is also home to Assam’s state bird, White-Winged Duck; the state tree, Hollong and the state flower, Fox Tail Orchid. Dehing Patkai will be the sixth national park in Assam — the other five being Kaziranga, Nameri, Manas, Orang and Dibru-Saikhowa.

In mid-May, amid the pandemic, an outrage took place amongst the people of Assam and Northeast towards a cause of saving the largest lowland rainforest in India ‘Amazon of the East’- Dehing Patkai. The movement which initially took place on the virtual platform with tags like #SaveDehingPatkai soon gained momentum and people from all walks of life showed their discontent over the Government’s decision that allowed coal mining in the precious rainforest of the region. However, things took a turn when the state government decided that the Wildlife Sanctuary would now be upgraded to a National Park. Though the step taken by the government has been welcomed by many, the narrative of illegal mining has shifted to expansion of the wildlife sanctuary.On 7th April, 2020, the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL), chaired by Prakash Javedkar, the Chairman of NBWL and the Minister of Forest, Environment and Climate Change of India (MoFECC), approved coal-mining project in the Saleki reserve forest which is a part of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve via video conference. This move by the Government sparked protest among environmentalist and young activists of Assam.

The Save Dehing Patkai Movement originally kick started from Gauhati University by its student through an online campaign to save the only rain forest of Assam. The movement grew stronger, but very soon the issue got diverted to another debate and now two parallel narratives have emerged which is centred around the Dehing Patkai. One section of environmental activists and organizations that were concerned about coal mining in the area, claimed that Dehing Pakai is not safe as a wildlife sanctuary and everything is not fine with the wildlife sanctuary. This section strongly argues that the habitant of the sanctuary and its adjoining area, its flora and fauna are in danger. On the other hand, the other narrative claims that there is nothing wrong in Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary and people of Assam do not need to worry about the wildlife sanctuary and its habitants. The other narrative, which was spearheaded by Nature’s Beckon, an NGO working with the environment of the region, almost came as a counter to the Save Dehing Pataki movement.

Nature’s Beckon started a strong social mobilization as for the inclusion of more areas of the Dehing Pataki rainforest under the protected area of the Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary. The campaign popularly termed as “#Complete_DehingPatkai_WLS_500sqkm” demands to expand the area of the Dehing Patkai Wildlife sanctuary by including more areas within the wildlife sanctuary.

In India, elephant reserves and corridors have no legal sanctity under the Wildlife Protection Act (WLPA), 1972. The act mentions only national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation, and community reserves (collectively called Protected Areas). Hence such lands are at the risk of being diverted for mines, drilling, polluting industries, deforestation etc

It is very disheartening that a government which claims to believe in sustainable development without harming the environment has taken such a drastic step which posed danger to the Amazon of the East. Moreover, coal mining adversely affects the ecosystem as a whole. In a paper published in 2015 in the Russian Federation, European Researchers, Sribas Goswami throws light on how coal mining impacts the environment.

The paper very clearly depicts how coal mining usually degrades the natural environment and leads to the destruction of habitat. It poses a great threat to the biodiversity of the region. Due to the illegal mining, there is massive dust and noise pollution in the surrounding area. After the cutting of coal seams, illegal miners leave all the mines open to nature.

Let us pledge to not make Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, a mere Geography Chapter for our future generation. As His Holiness, Dalai Lama said, “It is our collective and individual responsibility to preserve and tend to the world in which we all live”.