Wildlife panel unhappy with OIL for violating green norms

Days after Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily took over additional charge of Environment Ministry, a wildlife panel has come down heavily on state-run Oil India Limited (OIL) for violating green norms while laying pipeline through an ecologically sensitive area in Assam.
"We are deeply distressed that OIL, as a leading public sector company, instead of serving as a beacon for environmental compliance to others in the industry, appears to have evaded environmental norms," said the two-member NBWL panel in its report. OIL comes under Petroleum Ministry.
The panel consisting of Prerna Bindra and M D Madhusudan was appointed by the Standing Committee on National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) to look into OIL's proposal for use of 114.267 ha of non-forestland falling within 10 km from the boundary of Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and Borjan-Bherjan-Padumani Wildlife Sanctuary.

In their report, the two NBWL Standing Committee members found that the OIL was seeking clearances for projects on which work has already been done.
"We strongly disapprove of the current trend of presenting the SC-NBWL with fait accompli situations and seeking post-facto clearances for projects on which work has already been undertaken without the requisite prior permissions," they said in the report.
The panel criticised the manner manner in which the company "gravely undermines environmental concerns that are of equal national importance".

"We, therefore, strongly recommend that, rather than levy a one-time penalty for this violation, OIL be enlisted to provide financial and in-kind support on a rolling basis to the Assam Forest Department for a specific long term (say, for at least 10 years) plan to further conservation of Dibru -Saikhowa National Park and Borajan-Bherjan-Podumoni Wildlife Sanctuary," it said.

The Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and Biosphere Reserve harbours the tiger, elephant, wild buffalo, leopard, hoolock gibbon, capped langur, slow loris and Gangetic dolphin.
Besides critically endangered bird species such as the Bengal Florican, White Winged Duck, Greater Adjutant stork, White rumped vulture, slender-billed vulture as well as the very rare and endemic Black-breasted parrotbill are found there.