India, Feb. 27 -- Amid concerns over illegal coal mining along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, senior journalist and environmental activist Apurba Ballav Goswami has urged the Assam government to notify five reserved forests in Upper Assam as wildlife sanctuaries to strengthen statutory protection in the ecologically sensitive belt adjoining Dehing Patkai National Park.

In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma through the Golaghat Deputy Commissioner on February 16, Goswami flagged illegal rat-hole mining in forest ranges such as Jagun, Lekhapani and Margherita. He referred specifically to the Jagun Range under the Doomdoma Forest Division in Tinsukia district, stating that mining activities were affecting fore...