January 18 deadline for panel report on Kaziranga

GUWAHATI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has fixed January 18 as the last date for the sub-committee constituted to mitigate ecological damage caused by NH-37 to Kaziranga National Park to submit its report.
"The sub-committee must present its report positively by January 18. The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) shall take a final view within two weeks of the submission," the NGT said in its order.
The decision to constitute a sub-committee was taken during a meeting of the MoEF held in New Delhi on December last year. It was held in compliance with NGT's November 19 order in connection with a case-environment activist Rohit Choudhury versus union of India and others.
In an additional affidavit filed recently, the MoEF has informed the NGT that though the Assam government was committed to the ecological conservation of Kaziranga, it felt that any diversion of the NH-37 from its present alignment through the hilly terrain of Karbi Anglong district would result in 'huge destruction' of reserved forests.