(IN): Arunachal Govt denies deforestation charge

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Link: http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=apr2607/at06

 

Arunachal Govt denies deforestation charge

GUWAHATI, April 25 – The Arunachal Pradesh Government has denied

allegations of deforestation and displacement of villagers in the

process of establishment of Hawai as the headquarters of the newly

created Anjaw district. In a press release issued by the government to

rebut the allegations that appeared in a news item `Kamlang forest in

Arunachal facing serious threat' published in The Assam Tribune, the

government statement said that the DFO, Namsai, has communicated to

the PCCF that `the area earmarked for the establishment of the

district headquarter is almost a barren land except 8 to 10 small

trees scattered over the area that too of no economical use'. The DFO

has staunchly denied felling of any trees in the said area, thereby

rejecting the allegation that the state government felled 4,00,000

trees of dense forest, the statement added.

 

The government had signed a deed of agreement for acquisition of 185

acres of private land on April 18, 1996 with 37 villagers of Ngi,

Changung, Walla and Hawai for establishment of the administrative

headquarters, subsequently the government duly acquired 142.74 (0.57

sq km) of private land by government notification on June 29, 2004 for

establishment of the district headquarters at Hawai for newly created

Anjaw district. All the villagers willingly donated their land in

which they cultivated crops like maize, paddy, cardamon and vegetables

for decades, while some of the land being rocky is barren, the

statement said.

 

The government is committed to preserve the eco-system of both the

Namdapha Wildlife Sanctuary and Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary while at

the same time usher in development to the remote areas on the

Indo-China border, the statement said.