Arunachal's power corridors set up in wildlife zones without green nod

The civil secretariat and the state legislative assembly—the power centres of Arunachal Pradesh—were allegedly constructed without obtaining mandatory environmental clearances, despite being located within the legally notified boundaries of the Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary (IWS), according to official records accessed through the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

- Damien Lepcha

ITANAGAR:

The revelation emerged in response to an RTI filed by environmental activist and advocate S Loda, which sought details from 1978 to the present regarding the legal status, biodiversity, construction activities, and ecological impacts within IWS.

The reply from the office of the Deputy Chief Wildlife Warden, Naharlagun, confirmed that neither the state secretariat nor the assembly complex received clearance, as required under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

The RTI response further states that no construction permission or environmental clearance has been issued for any building within the sanctuary boundaries from 1980 to now—a period that covers all major administrative infrastructure expansion in the Itanagar Capital Region.

The Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary was formally notified on February 20, 1978, covering approximately 140.8 square kilometers. The RTI response included certified copies of the original notification and subsequent amendments but confirmed that the sanctuary's legal status under the Wildlife Protection Act remains intact.

The secretariat was sanctioned in 2009-10 and inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on February 15, 2018, while the assembly was inaugurated by the then President Ram Nath Kovind on November 19, 2017.

Maps enclosed with the reply show that large portions of the capital's urban expansion—including the state assembly, civil secretariat, Indira Gandhi Park, and areas around Ganga Lake (Gekar Sinyik)—fall within the sanctuary limits.

When specifically asked about the legality of the establishment of the Itanagar Municipal Corporation and the 13th ST Assembly Constituency within the sanctuary, the department responded unequivocally: "Not legal."