[Pisi Zauing]
CHANGLANG, 13 Oct: The Changlang district administration has declared cultivation of large cardamom in the Namdapha National Park (NP) illegal.
In an executive order, DC Sunny K Singh stated that, during his recent visit to Gandhigram and Vijaynagar, he observed illegal cultivation of large cardamom in the core area of the Namdapha National Park & Tiger Reserve (NP&TR).
“Illegal cultivation of large cardamom inside Namdapha NP&TR will not only disturb the overall biodiversity at the expense of monoculture, but also jeopardise the overall health of the ecosystem of the park, considering the possibility of large cardamom seedlings introducing some pathogens, thus affecting the flora and fauna at large,” the order read.
The administration in its order added that “unregulated transportation of large cardamom may result into smuggling of derivatives of potential plant and animal species of the world acclaimed Namdapha NP&TR.”
He directed that “the large cardamom coming out of the park may only be allowed to cross the Namdapha check gate if the Vijaynagar CO or EAC issues a certificate to the cultivator, stating that the said harvest of large cardamom is not from the core area of Namdapha NP.”
The DC also directed the Namdapha NP field director to deploy his team “to conduct an instant survey of all the illegal large cardamom cultivations falling in the core area of the park,” and to submit the details latest by 15 November.
Violation of the order will invite strict action, the order read.
