Supreme Court ordered Assam to remove all illegal constructions in animal corridors near Kaziranga.

Central Empowered Committee (CEC) created by the Supreme Court ordered the Assam government to remove all illegal structures in the nine animal corridors around Kaziranga National Park and the Tiger Reserve. In a letter dated October 6 to Assam's chief secretary Jishu Baruah, the panel also requested a government report on this matter within four weeks. "It is requested that immediate measures be taken to remove all structures that violate the order of the Honorable Supreme Court of April 12, 2019 and that new structures are not allowed along the nine identified animal corridors," he said the member secretary of the CEC, Amarnatha Shetty, in the letter. The latest instructions from the CEC came after a report from the Union Ministry of the Environment in September indicated that several new structures had been created in the affected corridors in violation of an April 2019 Supreme Court ruling. The report was prepared by Laetitia J. Syiemiong, Deputy Inspector General for Forestry (Central) of the Shillong Office of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate, on behalf of KEK. The CEC requested inspections of the nine corridors after activist Rohit Choudhury complained about the new buildings. The inspection found that in eight corridors a temple, shops, hotels, restaurants, tea plantations and even a government building were being built. Most of the constructions were found in the Haldibari and Kanchanjuris corridors. The report found a lack of coordination between the county administration, the forest department and the police and accused them of violating the highest court order. Added that no action was taken to remove the buildings. The report also found that the demarcation of the nine animal corridors, which stretches for 44,205 km, has been made, but the state government has not yet officially communicated this. He proposed the demolition of illegal structures in the animal corridors and a proper investigation.