By - Imkong Walling
Remember how the Central government bulldozed its way to amend, and rename, the erstwhile Forest Conservation Act of 1980 sometime in July-August 2023? The amendment, now a legislation— Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam or Forest Protection and Promotion Act, introduced sweeping changes that was viewed, as reported by The Morung Express in May 2023, as a means to negate the legal safeguards conferred to forest conservation.
It essentially paved the way for hassle-free approvals for “non-forestry use” of protected forests and forest lands. “Non-forestry use” in this context implies development and or infrastructure projects, including petroleum, proposed by the government or through private proxies.
The effect of the amended Act is today playing out. A recent petroleum exploration bid in a protected forest by the Assam government has received the go ahead from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEFCC) without much trouble. All that was needed for getting the approval of the MOEFCC’s National Board for Wildlife was affixing “national interest” to the exploration bid floated through a private petroleum exploration and production company— Cairn Oil & Gas, Vedanta Limited.
There is another story angle to this, however, concerning Nagaland. The proposed exploration site falls in territory contested by both Assam and Nagaland, forming part of the Disputed Area Belt (DAB). It is adjacent to Naga villages that fall in Mokokchung and Wokha districts. Assam claims it is part of the Hoollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary.
The DAB or disputed border, under adjudication by the Supreme Court since 1988, stretches from Niuland till Mon on the Nagaland side; and Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar and Charaideo districts on the Assam side.
Now, add a second angle to it— the silence of the Nagaland state government to Assam’s move. The Assam government had officially moved for seeking clearance of the MOEFCC for the proposed exploration project atleast 6-7 years ago, as per official documents.
More recently, on January 24, the Nagaland Chief Minister disclosed of a supposed understanding between the two neighbouring states for equal sharing of revenue from petroleum extracted in contested territories. Rio’s disclosure dates back to news reports from April 2023 about the Assam and Nagaland Chief Ministers agreeing “in principle” for entering into a revenue-sharing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The rumoured MoU did not happen, or if it has already, not been made public as yet.
While the brazen exploration bid by Assam in the DAB is not surprising, the silence of the Nagaland state government merits greater worry. The Assam government, as revealed in Parliament, has been operating atleast 8 oil fields in the DAB with ease, and making revenue, without protest from the Nagaland government.
It is assumed the alleged revenue-sharing dialogue between the Nagaland and Assam CMs was intended as a means to get around the border dispute between the two states. But a bigger question is whether the Nagaland CM considered the sentiment of the people in his state, if at all he was serious.
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com
