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States » EastPosted at: Apr 24 2025 7:16PM


Tribal villagers, environmental group, oppose eco-tourism project in Meghalaya wildlife sanctuary

Shillong, Apr 24 (UNI) Green-Tech Foundation, an environmental group, and the tribal villagers residing adjacent to the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary in Meghalaya have joined hands to thwart a proposed eco-tourism project in the wild habitat.
The Meghalaya Forest and Environment Department on April 7 awarded the ₹23.60-crore EPC contract to E-Factor Experiences Ltd.— a company specializing in wedding and event management—to construct chalet-style resorts, glass skywalks, and even a water-sports arena inside the 29-square-kilometre Nongkhyllem wildlife sanctuary.
Claiming that the proposed eco-tourism project is against Wildlife Protection Act 1972, the leaders of Raid Sohkhwai, a commune tribal dorbar of seven villages, said the proposed eco-tourism project would cause damage to the sanctuary’s ecosystem.
“The eco-tourism project will only bring the generation of waste leaving a footprint of stink and dump yard,” Wad Syngkli, the Village Chief of Umladoh, said.
Lambasting the government for its whimsical decision, the village chief said that government has committed a blunder. “What will happen to our children and future generations after the sanctuary is turned into a commercial space with unethical disposal of waste?” Syngkli said.
The Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary is one among the 16 wildlife sanctuaries in the North Eastern states, in Meghalaya’s Ri Bhoi district, rated as the best-protected area in the entire region, according to the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of Protected Areas (PAs).
The sanctuary was established in 1981 to preserve iconic species like Bison (Gaurs) and leopards.
Green Tech Foundation (GTF), an environmental group which is leading from the front against the eco-tourism project in Nongkhyllem wildlife sanctuary, said that it would fight tooth and nail to protect the wildlife sanctuary from any human activities.
“This is not a trivial matter—the future of this sanctuary and its inhabitants is at stake. We will fight tooth and nail to protect it, leveraging every statute and legal precedent at our disposal. We stand firm on legitimate grounds in our opposition,” GTF Chairman H.B. Nonglang said.
The GTF said Nongkhyllem wildlife sanctuary is home to a rich variety of wildlife, including over 50 species of mammals and 25 species of reptiles.
Significantly, around 30 of the 140 mammal species listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, are found here—making the sanctuary an irreplaceable ecological treasure.
Nonglang said that Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary is not a property owned by the government since the government merely manages the sanctuary.
“The sanctuary has public significance making it in the domain of public interest and not solely of the government,” Nonglang said.
The protected area of Nongkhyllem is a concern of the public since forests and rivers cannot be sole proprietorship of any individual or group, the GTF leaders said.
“If anyone is under the impression that the sanctuary is of the government and that the government can do so as it, please then the same is wrong in as much illegal,” Nonglang said.
Claiming that the villagers surrounding the wildlife sanctuary strongly opposed the eco-tourism project, one of the villagers said, “We are not interested to hear about the crores of rupees to be pumped in for the eco-tourism project.”
The villagers claimed the eco-tourism project will not benefit the communities around the wild habitat, and they are convinced that it would be catastrophic.
“The government may come to lure us into this project, but the benefit of it is just temporary, while compromising the long-lasting benefit of a pristine environment,” Syngkli said.
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Tags: #Tribal villagers# environmental group# oppose eco-tourism project in Meghalaya wildlife sanctuary
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