Gauhati High Court seeks status quo on encroachment in Manas Tiger Reserve

Published 6 August 2026 · india

GUWAHATI The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government and the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) to ensure no further encroachment takes place in the

GUWAHATI The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government and the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) to ensure no further encroachment takes place in the 2,837 sq. km. Manas Park and Tiger Reserve, which borders Bhutan. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury passed the order on July 31, 2026, seeking status quo until the next date of hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by eastern Assam-based environmental activist Rohit Choudhury. In the PIL, the activist sought a writ of mandamus against the Assam government and the BTC to remove unauthorised encroachments from the transboundary Manas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He submitted that large-scale encroachments have taken place in the core area of Manas Park, particularly in the Panbari and Betbari areas. One of the major encroachers, Mr. Choudhury pointed out, was the Kokilabari Seed Farm. “…a big parcel of the land continues to be used for cultivation under the control of the Agriculture Department of the BTC,” the petition read. Additional Advocate General P.N. Goswami accepted the notice on behalf of the Assam government and the Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Department, while standing counsel, N.

Choudhury, accepted it on behalf of the BTC. The court ordered notices to the other respondents — the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, the Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and the Field Director of Manas Park and Tiger Reserve — returnable on October 7, 2026. The court also directed the authorities to prevent any fresh encroachment within the protected area. Forest officials entrusted with managing the tiger reserve said the encroachment issue has been under discussion before the PIL was filed. “The talks for the Kokilabari matter are ongoing,” a senior official said. Letters of concern In May, Mr. Choudhury wrote to Assam’s Chief Secretary and the NTCA, drawing their attention to the encroachment of 3,558.32 bighas of land by the Kokilabari Seed Farm in the Bhuyanpara Range of Manas Tiger Reserve. A bigha in Assam is approximately 0.3306 acre. Choudhury cited a September 1, 2025 letter by the tiger reserve’s Field Director to the Baksa and Chirang District Commissioners, highlighting large-scale encroachment of land measuring more than 18,000 bighas. According to the letter, 7,520 people across 1,522 houses/structures have been illegally occupying a total of 14,545.62 bighas in the Bhuyanpara and Panbari Ranges of the tiger reserve.