The Assam government has proposed a new Reserved Forest adjacent to Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary in Sonitpur district to support compensatory afforestation linked to multiple infrastructure and industrial projects. The notification covers 224.325 hectares of land and seeks to bring it under reserved forest status as Burhachapori No. 5. The move is part of the state’s wider land-bank strategy for meeting forest diversion conditions under environmental clearance norms.
Proposed Forest Area
The notified land lies in the Dhania Range under the Nagaon Wildlife Division. It is ecologically because it is surrounded by protected and forested areas on multiple sides. The northern boundary touches Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary and Orang National Park. The south and east are bordered by Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, while Kochmara Reserve Forest lies to the west. The land has sandy loam soil and forms part of an 830-hectare land bank set aside for compensatory afforestation.
Legal and Administrative Process
The proposal has been issued under Section 5 of the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891. The land was earlier transferred from the Revenue and Disaster Management Department to the Forest Department. The Additional District Commissioner (Revenue), Sonitpur, has been appointed as Forest Settlement Officer to examine existing rights over the land. The Divisional Forest Officer of Nagaon Wildlife Division will assist in the inquiry. The Director of Land Records, Assam, will act as the appellate authority.
Link with Development Projects
The reservation is tied to forest diversion caused by several ongoing projects in Assam. These include:
- National highway expansion by NHIDCL and NHAI.
- Oil and gas exploration by ONGC and Oil India Limited.
- Coal mining by Coal India Limited.
- Power transmission projects by Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Limited.
Each project has received Stage-I in-principle forest clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Compensatory Afforestation Rules
The move is required under the Van Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan Rules, 2023. These rules require diverted forest land to be compensated through afforestation on equivalent non-forest land. The principle applies as land by land and trees by trees. Under Rule 13, the land used for compensatory afforestation must not already be notified as forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, or be managed as forest land by the Forest Department.
Last Modified: April 29, 2026