Kaziranga wildlife corridor concerns have intensified after Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi alleged that the Assam government removed a 2022 Gazette notification from its official website after questions were raised over the omission of the Panbari corridor. Gogoi has sought an explanation for why the notification was allegedly incomplete and why it remained online for years before being taken down.
Kaziranga wildlife corridor notification removed
The controversy centres on Gazette Notification No. FRW.7/2022/Pt.V/01, issued on April 1, 2022. The notification accepted the recommendations of a committee constituted in May 2019 to identify and delineate animal corridors connecting the Karbi Anglong hills with Kaziranga National Park. The committee submitted its report in August 2019.
According to the notification, nine corridors were identified: Panbari, Haldhibari, Bagori, Harmati, Kanchanjuri, Hatidandi, Deosur, Chirang and Amguri. However, reports found that the version uploaded on the Assam government’s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department website contained details and maps for only eight corridors, leaving out Panbari.
The department webpage that previously hosted the document has since reportedly returned a “404 Page Not Found” message. The government has not publicly explained whether the notification was removed for correction, revision or another reason.
What Gaurav Gogoi alleged
Gogoi, the Congress MP from Assam, raised the issue in a post on X. He claimed that the complete notification available on the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve website spans pages 1,328 to 1,455, while the version uploaded on the state portal stopped at page 1,426.
According to Gogoi, this meant 29 pages covering the Panbari corridor were absent from the state-hosted version. He questioned why an allegedly incomplete document remained uncorrected for around four years and why it was removed after the discrepancy attracted attention.
Gogoi also called for greater transparency over the status of all nine animal corridors. He referred to concerns raised over wildlife protection, mining and tourism projects around Kaziranga and said the state government should clarify the circumstances surrounding the missing information.
Panbari corridor and Methoni Tea Estate
The omission has received additional attention because the Panbari corridor passes through the Methoni Tea Estate. The estate changed ownership in 2022, the same year the corridor notification was issued. It was acquired by RCP Solutions and Services Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, according to reports citing Assam regulatory records.
The timing has prompted questions from Congress leaders, environmental activists and others about whether there could be a connection between the omission and developments around the estate. However, there is currently no established documentary evidence showing that the government removed or altered the notification because of the ownership of Methoni Tea Estate.
Reports have also highlighted references to rare earth element deposits in the Panbari-Geleki area of Karbi Anglong. The proximity of the area to Kaziranga has added to calls for greater disclosure, although any direct connection between the deposits and the missing corridor details remains unproven.
Conflicting records raise concerns
Another point of concern is that an Eastern Assam Wildlife Division document reportedly referred to a “notified Panbari Animal Corridor” in connection with a proposal for an APDCL substation at Methoni Tea Estate. The document treated the proposed site as being outside the notified corridor.
The reference appears to conflict with the publicly available version of the 2022 notification, where Panbari’s detailed description and map were missing. Meanwhile, the office of the Field Director of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has reportedly maintained that Panbari is among the nine corridors notified in 2022 and that the Gazette is available through the park’s official website.
Why the corridor matters
Wildlife corridors are vital links between protected habitats. In the Kaziranga landscape, the Karbi Anglong hills provide important refuge for animals when seasonal flooding submerges large parts of the national park.
The 2022 notification was therefore significant because it formally identified routes used for wildlife movement between Kaziranga and the surrounding hills. The absence of Panbari from the detailed portion of the publicly hosted document has raised concerns about transparency and the clarity of official records.
For now, key questions remain unanswered: why Panbari was missing from the online version, why the government webpage was removed and whether a corrected notification will be published. An official response to Gogoi’s allegations was awaited at the time of reporting.
The dispute is likely to keep attention focused on the Kaziranga wildlife corridor network, particularly Panbari, until the Assam government clarifies the record and explains the removal of the 2022 notification.