A Diphu-based RTI activist has approached the National Green Tribunal and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), alleging large-scale, mechanised sand mining in the Deihori River — inside the proposed Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve. Mohajon Kro of Rongbin Aklam, Diphu, filed the complaint on August 5, 2026, alleging that excavators, earthmovers and heavy vehicles are extracting sand directly from the active river channel, in violation of a 2019 Supreme Court order restricting mining across the Kaziranga landscape. The complaint lands just days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a plan to shrink Kaziranga's ESZ from a default 10 km to just 1 km — a move conservationists say would strip legal protection from precisely the kind of catchment areas Kro's complaint is about.
Background
Kaziranga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to roughly two-thirds of the world's greater one-horned rhinoceros population, sits in the Brahmaputra floodplain of central Assam, bordered to the south by the hill district of Karbi Anglong. Every monsoon, rising floodwaters push the park's rhinos, elephants, tigers, wild buffalo and swamp deer out of the low-lying core area and into the Karbi Anglong foothills, using a set of natural wildlife corridors to reach higher ground. Streams and rivers — including the Deihori — flow down from these hills into Kaziranga, feeding the park's grasslands and wetlands.
That geography has made the hill-foot interface between Kaziranga and Karbi Anglong one of India's most closely watched — and most violated — conservation boundaries. A National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) assessment found at least 12 villages in Karbi Anglong with stone quarries and crusher units operating within two to four kilometres of the tiger reserve's southern boundary, blaming them for siltation and the drying up of streams that once fed Kaziranga's wetlands. The Assam government has periodically responded with closure orders — 28 stone quarries and 18 stone crushers were ordered shut in the Northern Range around Dolamara — and in February 2025 the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) itself resolved to suspend the Deihori River sand-and-gravel mahal (a government-leased extraction site) along with 14 stone quarries falling inside the proposed ESZ.
Despite those orders, a Central Empowered Committee (CEC) report submitted to the Supreme Court on May 30, 2025 found that illegal mining had resumed in key catchment areas feeding Kaziranga. That report followed an anonymous complaint filed in December 2024 by a government employee warning of unchecked mining around the park; the CEC's own investigation corroborated the claim and directed Assam's Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to fully implement the Supreme Court's 2019 mining ban in the ESZ catchments. Kro's August 2026 complaint is the latest in this recurring pattern — a specific, named allegation against the same stretch of river the KAAC itself had ordered closed to mining a year and a half earlier.
Key Details
- Kro's complaint, filed August 5, 2026, alleges mechanised extraction using excavators, earthmovers and heavy trucks operating directly in the Deihori River's active channel, inside the government's own proposed ESZ boundary.
- He has asked the MoEFCC to order a thorough investigation and to constitute a joint inspection committee involving the Central Pollution Control Board and the Assam Pollution Control Board.
- The Deihori River sand-and-gravel mahal, under the Northern Range at Dolamara, was one of the sites the KAAC voted to suspend in February 2025 — meaning the activity now alleged would represent a direct breach of the council's own suspension order, if confirmed.
- The Supreme Court's 2019 judgment on Kaziranga bars mining and related activity across catchment areas originating in the Karbi Anglong hills and prohibits new construction on private land within nine identified animal corridors connecting the park to higher ground.
- Separately, on August 8, 2026, during a visit to Bokakhat, Chief Minister Sarma announced that the state would push the Centre to formally notify Kaziranga's ESZ at 1 km instead of the currently applicable default of 10 km, arguing the wider zone was hampering civic and urban development in towns around the park.
The chief minister's ESZ position and Kro's mining complaint are, on paper, separate processes — one a proposed notification pending Central government sign-off, the other a specific pollution-and-mining complaint under existing law. But conservation groups have explicitly linked the two, arguing that a 1 km buffer would leave most of the Karbi Anglong catchment area — including stretches like the Deihori — outside any ESZ protection at all, making complaints like Kro's a moot point in the very zones that most need scrutiny.
At a Glance: The Kaziranga ESZ Timeline
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Supreme Court restricts mining in Kaziranga's catchment areas; bars new construction in 9 identified animal corridors |
| Dec 2024 | Anonymous government employee complaint alleges unchecked mining around Kaziranga |
| Feb 2025 | KAAC suspends Deihori River sand-gravel mahal and 14 stone quarries inside proposed ESZ |
| May 30, 2025 | CEC report to Supreme Court confirms illegal mining has resumed; directs full enforcement of 2019 ban |
| Aug 5, 2026 | Mohajon Kro files complaint with NGT and MoEFCC alleging mechanised Deihori River mining |
| Aug 8, 2026 | CM Sarma announces plan to shrink ESZ from default 10 km to 1 km, citing urban development needs |
Local Impact
For the wildlife that depends on the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong corridor system, the stakes are direct: siltation and stream-drying caused by riverbed mining degrade the grasslands and water sources animals rely on both inside the park and in the highland refuges they flee to during floods, while continued construction and mining activity in the corridors themselves can physically block the routes rhinos, elephants and tigers use to escape rising water — a dynamic conservationists say has already contributed to drowning deaths during past flood seasons.
For residents of Karbi Anglong villages near the mining sites, the picture is more mixed. Stone quarrying and river-sand extraction are a source of local employment and, through royalties and mahal leases, revenue for the KAAC — which is why the council's own suspension orders have historically been difficult to enforce on the ground even when formally issued. Families living downstream, meanwhile, have reported drying wells and streams as a direct consequence of upstream extraction, affecting drinking water and irrigation independent of any wildlife concern.
For Assam's tourism economy, which markets Kaziranga heavily — the park drew a record 5.48 lakh visitors in the most recent season — any visible degradation of the landscape or a high-profile wildlife death linked to corridor disruption would carry reputational as well as ecological cost.
What Happens Next
The NGT and MoEFCC will need to decide whether to act on Kro's complaint, which could include ordering the joint CPCB-Assam Pollution Control Board inspection he has requested; neither body had issued a public response as of this report. Separately, the Assam government's proposal to notify Kaziranga's ESZ at 1 km requires central government approval and is expected to draw formal objections from conservation groups during any public consultation process, given the scale of opposition the announcement has already generated. The Supreme Court-mandated CEC, which has previously found on-ground violations despite official closure orders, is likely to remain the primary enforcement check on illegal mining in the interim, regardless of how the ESZ notification question is eventually resolved.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Mohajon Kro allege in his August 2026 complaint?
Kro alleged that mechanised sand mining — using excavators, earthmovers and heavy vehicles — is taking place in the Deihori River's active channel, inside the government's proposed Eco-Sensitive Zone around Kaziranga, and asked for a joint CPCB-Assam Pollution Control Board investigation.
Why is the Deihori River significant to Kaziranga's ecology?
It is one of several streams flowing from the Karbi Anglong hills into Kaziranga's catchment, feeding the park's grasslands and wetlands and forming part of the wildlife corridor system animals use to reach higher ground during monsoon flooding.
What is Assam's plan to shrink Kaziranga's Eco-Sensitive Zone?
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on August 8, 2026 that the state would push the Centre to formally notify the ESZ at 1 km instead of the currently applicable default 10 km, citing constraints on urban and civic development in surrounding towns.
What did the Supreme Court order in 2019 regarding Kaziranga?
The Court restricted mining and related activities across catchment areas feeding Kaziranga from the Karbi Anglong hills and barred new construction on private land within nine identified animal corridors.
Has mining near Kaziranga been banned before?
Yes — the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council suspended the Deihori River sand-gravel mahal and 14 stone quarries in February 2025, and the state government previously ordered 28 stone quarries and 18 stone crushers closed in the Dolamara area, but a May 2025 Central Empowered Committee report found illegal mining had resumed regardless.
How would a smaller Eco-Sensitive Zone affect enforcement?
Conservationists argue a 1 km buffer would leave most of the Karbi Anglong catchment area, including stretches like the Deihori, outside ESZ protection entirely, making the legal basis for future mining complaints in those zones significantly weaker.
What animals depend on the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong wildlife corridors?
Rhinos, elephants, tigers, wild buffalo and swamp deer use the corridors to move between Kaziranga's floodplain and the Karbi Anglong highlands, particularly during the monsoon when the park's core area floods.
Is this the first complaint about mining near Kaziranga?
No. Complaints and investigations date back years, including a December 2024 anonymous complaint from a government employee and repeated NTCA warnings since at least 2018 about stone quarries and crushers operating close to the park's southern boundary.
Sources
Northeast Now, Assam Times, The Federal, The Better India, Deccan Herald, Assam Tribune, and the Central Empowered Committee's report to the Supreme Court.
