Overview
- The Supreme Court‑appointed Central Empowered Committee has formally criticised the Assam government for not stopping mining and related activity near Kaziranga and has urged immediate action to enforce the court’s 2019 ban.
- The CEC says the mandated comprehensive watershed drainage analysis was not submitted by the October 2025 deadline and that the nine animal corridors identified by the panel remain unnotified, weakening legal protection and enforcement.
- The Assam government has proposed shrinking Kaziranga’s eco‑sensitive zone from the default 10 km to 1 km, a move conservationists say would fragment habitat, block migration routes and encourage damaging land‑use change.
- Opposition figures and activists have raised allegations that state appointees and KAAC officials authorised or tolerated mining permits in sensitive areas, citing CEC findings and FIRs linked to illegal extraction.
- If the state does not act, the CEC warned it will notify the Supreme Court, which could prompt further legal orders; the dispute affects local livelihoods, flood‑escape routes for wildlife and the future of Kaziranga’s World Heritage ecology.