Since May 2016, more than one lakh mature, full-grown trees have been felled across Assam for various public and private projects, according to official records.
The Assam government stated that these trees were felled out of "dire necessity" to develop the projects, and that more than 3.5 crore saplings have been planted in the last two years to compensate for the loss of green cover.
However, experts from various state-run institutions have opined that cutting so many trees has resulted in "significant ecological loss," and that comparing the felling of mature trees with planting saplings is "problematic," as it lacks a scientific assessment.
In response to queries sent to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) under the Right to Information Act, 15 out of 44 wildlife and territorial divisions across Assam stated that 1,06,896 trees have been felled since May 2016.
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. These were forwarded to 43 divisions across the state.
In addition to the 15 divisions that provided data, 12 more responded to the RTI application but did not provide any information regarding tree felling.
No response has come from the remaining 16 divisions.
None of the 27 divisions that responded to the queries have conducted any study on the impact of cutting these large numbers of trees over the years.
When contacted, Assam Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told
"These trees have been cut across the state for various development projects. It was a dire necessity to fell the trees for different projects," he added.
Giving examples, Patowary said a large number of trees were cut for the four-laning of National Highway-17 from Guwahati to Goalpara and the construction of the Darrang Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).
"In most places where trees were cut, roads have been developed – mainly the national highways. Besides, ONGC and Oil India are also exploring crude and developing wells at new locations. For that too, some trees were felled," he added.
The DMCH is being built in a location where there was a silk plantation. Therefore, the entire area was cleared for construction work, the minister said.
"We have planted a huge number of saplings against these felled trees. In 'Amrit Briksha Andolan', we planted one crore saplings in a single day. There are other schemes also. We have planted a total of 3.5 crore saplings in the last two years," he added.
According to the RTI data, most of the responding authorities said that more than 70 per cent saplings have survived after proper care.
Over 26,000 trees have been felled in notified forest areas since May 2016, while the remaining have been cut in non-forest locations.
Nearly 84,000 trees were chopped for various government projects like construction of roads, bridges, flyovers, factories and buildings such as medical colleges, police battalions and all other structures. More than 10,000 trees have been felled for private works.
The available information shows that almost 65,000 trees have been logged from 2021 to 2025 during Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's tenure. Over 18,000 trees were removed during his predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal's period.
When contacted, Cotton University Environmental Biology & Wildlife Sciences Assistant Professor Narayan Sharma told