Over one lakh mature trees have been felled across Assam since May 2016 for various public and private projects, according to official records obtained by Right to Information (RTI).
Data provided by 15 out of 44 wildlife and territorial forest divisions indicate that 1,06,896 trees have been felled during this period.
The information was shared in response to an RTI application submitted to the Office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and Head of Forest Force under the state’s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department.
A set of 11 queries were submitted to the Office of the PCCF & Head of Forest Force under the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department of the Assam government. It was forwarded to 43 divisions across the state.
While 15 divisions provided detailed figures, another 12 divisions responded but did not share any information related to tree cutting.
Official figures show that over 26,000 trees were cut in notified forest areas, while the rest were felled in non-forest locations across the state.
Of the total, nearly 84,000 trees were removed for government projects, including construction of roads, bridges, flyovers, factories, medical colleges, police battalions, and other infrastructure. More than 10,000 trees were cut for private works, the data indicates.
The figures also show that nearly 65,000 trees were cut between 2021 and 2025, during the tenure of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while over 18,000 trees were felled earlier during the government led by Sarbananda Sonowal.
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The Assam government, on the other hand, said that all these trees were cut in “dire necessity” to develop the projects, while more than 3.5 crore saplings have been planted in the last two years alone to compensate the loss in green cover.
Assam’s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that the trees were cleared mainly for infrastructure expansion and oil exploration activities. He said that development works across the state required land clearance, making the removal of trees unavoidable in many cases.
However, experts from different state-run institutions opined that cutting so many trees have resulted in “significant ecological loss” and comparing felling of mature trees with planting saplings is “problematic”, while terming it “scientifically concerning” for no study to assess the impact.
