Guwahati, June 27 -- The inclusion of 18 forest villages within Assam's Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary into the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) has sparked concern among environmentalists, even as a related case on encroachment remains under consideration by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Of the 81 villages newly incorporated into the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) as per a final delimitation order issued on June 23 by Assam's Panchayat and Rural Development Department, 18 lie within the protected bounds of the sanctuary.

The move comes at a time when the NGT is still hearing a case on large-scale encroachment inside the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam's Sonitpur district.

The inclusion of these villages was authorize...