Guwahati, April 8: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has expressed "dismay" over the failure of the Assam government to submit a status report on restraining construction at Mathanguri inside Manas National Park.

The tribunal on January 9 had restrained the water resources department to take up any river work at Mathanguri, which is inside the national park and a tiger reserve too.

It had then directed the chief secretary of Assam to take steps in the matter and to ask all his subordinate officers to make necessary compliance of the order, and make all endeavours for compliance.

It had stated earlier that the place is coming under the purview of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, where there is restriction on the de-reservation of forests or use of forestland for non-forest purposes.

The tribunal in its order on Monday said despite such direction on two earlier occasions, no status report has been filed by the chief secretary, government of Assam.

"We fail to understand the conduct of the chief secretary, for non-filing of the status report in terms of earlier directions passed on two occasions," a two-member bench headed by Justice Pratap Kumar Ray, who is a judicial member of the tribunal, stated.

The tribunal has given a last chance to the chief secretary to submit the status report within four weeks and to file an affidavit.

It said the ministry of environment, forests and climate change has also not filed any reply till date and has been given time of four weeks.

The tribunal found out that no proposal was received by the wildlife division of the ministry from Dispur for work on diverting Manas river at Mathanguri, Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve and that no site inspection was done by the ministry to that effect and no correspondence/letter was received by the wildlife division from the state government.

The tribunal took up the case after environmental activist Rohit Choudhury had filed a plea before the Calcutta-based eastern zone bench of the NGT last year to pass orders directing the water resources department to stop all activities for streamlining the course of the Beki river on its left bank and activation of the dried up courses of the Manas and Hakua rivers at Mathanguri.