In light of the cutting down of trees in Doboka Reserve Forest for the expansion of the national highway into four-lane, All Assam Students Union (AASU) Hojai unit have staged a protest on Wednesday.
More than 200 workers of AASU Hojai unit formed a human chain in protest around the Sal forest near National Highway 36. The protestors had banners and posters and shouted slogans like "Protect our forests" and "Stop cutting trees", while condemning the Assam government for the act and calling for the government to rethink the decision.
Speaking to the media after nearly an hour-long protest, the protestors said that they will not take the decision to fell trees in order to widen the national highway to four-lane. They have called for the forest department to review their decision as soon as possible.
At the end of the protest, the AASU leadership, through the Divisional Forest Officer, submitted a memorandum to the Chief Conservator of Forests. They have strongly criticized the decision to fell trees for the expansion project even with other optional land available. They said that taking the proposed national highway project a kilometer aside will preserve the forest and the construction will also proceed.
They have also threatened a massive protest with the help of the people in a democratic manner if the government and the forest department fail to take any actions in the case. Other regional parties and organizations have over the past week kept up the protests along with the regional people. AAMSU had on Tuesday protested the felling of one of the oldest Sal Trees in the reserve forest.
Notably, at a time when climate change and global warming are the talk of the town, around 6,200 trees will be cut down in the name of the proposed expansion of the national highway. This will have deteriorating effect on the environment. In the meantime, forest department have identified and numbered the trees that are to be felled for the project.
It is worth mentioning that Doboka Reserve Forest is home to many different types of animals. It is home to different types of monkeys, geckos, porcupine, the Royal Bengal Tiger, Leopard and Deer. The Hoolock Gibbon which resides in the forests, will be under threat if the project goes through. Apart from that, an international elephant corridor goes through the Doboka Reserve Forest. The elephant corridor runs from Kaziranga National Park and through Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao and Nagaland, it goes all the way up to Myanmar. The felling of trees in Doboka Reserve Forest, will heavily impact the flora and fauna of the region.
