The
quintessential bookworm, Rohit Choudhury spends his days navigating India’s
labyrinthine judicial system, dodging bullets both literal and figurative, to
win legal battles for conservation. Born and brought up in Bokakhat, Assam,
Choudhury’s contribution to his state’s rich and threatened biodiversity is
both unique and unsung. A wildlife activist, he deploys the powerful Right to
Information Act (RTI) to protect the biodiverse landscapes of the Kaziranga
National Park, Manas National Park and a host of lesser-known Protected Areas.
Extracting valuable information from reams of case documents and reports, he
has committed himself to the tedium of careful reading and research that are
critical to any conservation battle.
He’s working to put a halt to the
unregulated dumping of garbage from Guwahati city in the Ramsar Site of Deepor
Beel; fighting the unlawful diversion of the Beki river in the core of the Manas
National Park at the National Green Tribunal (NGT); and petitioning against the
destruction of prime elephant habitats in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape
by illegal mining operations.
His work on the latter resulted in the
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) ordering a ban on all mining
activities in the concerned landscape. Here, he has also approached the NGT to
address the issue of roadkills on NH37, where dozens of wild animals die
agonising deaths under the wheels of speeding vehicles when they try to cross
the road. Choudhury also won a stay order on the illegal expansion of the
highway from Jakhalabandha to Bokakhat. Perhaps best known for his heroic fight
against the Numaligarh Refinery for blocking an elephant corridor, Rohit Choudhury
faces threats from all those that he brings to task. Yet, this gutsy activist
continues undaunted.
Source By:
Sanctuary Asia
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