Encroachment in the Amchang wildlife sanctuary which continues unabated with little intervention from the Forest Department or the Government has jeopardised its survival prospects. What is more surprising is that the media's recent in-depth coverage of the encroachment has failed to elicit any positive action from the authorities. A team of Early Birds, an environmental NGO, during a visit to Khanapara reserve forest (which forms part of Amchang), found a large number of encroachers belonging to a particular tribe from an upper Assam district clearing a considerable part of the forest and constructing torja houses made of bamboo. "The encroachers use the Veterinary College campus roads to enter the forest and to bring in their required materials. They have formed three villages on the encroached land, i.e., Amritpur, Kailash Nagar and Kankan Nagar, the last being the latest,' Moloy Baruah of Early Birds told The Assam Tribune. Baruah, quoting a local resident who had also migrated from the upper Assam district, said Kailash Nagar was formed five years back and has a current population of about 150-200 people, while Kankan Nagar, which was formed only a few months back, consists of 25-odd households inhabited by about 125 people. Baruah said Amritpur has a mixed population of Mising, Assamese and Nepali, numbering about 200. "When asked, most Mising villagers replied that they worked in private companies while the Nepalis depended on their livestock. They also revealed that the Forest Department was aware of their settlements and that they had its