Environment / Assam

GUWAHATI, June 4 ? The Association of Architects, Assam (AAA), today stressed the need for a comprehensive master plan for planned development of the city which will effectively deal with all the civic problems besetting it. ?The task of preparing and implementing such a plan should be entrusted with a reputed technical firm from outside having the necessary infrastructure, equipment and technical know-how,? AAA general secretary Tikendrajit Saikia said. Warning that Guwahati would be a ?dead city? within 10 years if the state of affairs going on in the name of the city?s development was...

GUWAHATI, June 5 ? State Forest Minister GC Langthasa today said that due to encroachment, the area under notified forests in the State has gone down to an alarming 16 per cent in terms of closed forests which is well below the norm of 33 per cent recommended by the national Forest Policy. He was speaking at a function organised on the occasion of World Environment Day by the Department of Science and Technology and Environment, at the Ravindra Bhavan here today. Terming encroachment in forest areas as a major irritant in forest management as well as in maintenance of the eco-system, Langthasa...

GUWAHATI, June 2 : A team of Assam Forest Protection Force and forest staff led by South Guwahati Range Officer Dilip Kalita arrested a timber smuggler Md Chiraj Ali and seized two elephants while they were being engaged in pulling smuggled logs at Kayempathar area along Assam-Meghalaya border on May 31. A mahout and a mohori too have been nabbed along with the elephants. It may be mentioned that Md Chiraj Ali had been using the two elephants to bring smuggled logs from Assam to Meghalaya, taking advantage of the pre-occupation of the forest staff in eviction works since May 7. The elephants...

GUWAHATI, June 1? In continuing with its eviction drive, the State Forest Department demolished 229 houses in the South Kalapahar Reserve Forest (RF) area of the city today and freed 37 hectares of land from encroachment. Yesterday, 204 houses were demolished in the same RF area and a land area of 25 hectares was freed from encroachment by the Department. The RF has a total land area of 70 hectares. The Department used one elephant and two bulldozers yesterday and three elephants and three bulldozers today. The eviction party was divided into three teams on both the days.

According to Forest...

GUWAHATI, May 29 ? Authorities of Kaziranga National Park (KNP) started eviction drive to root out encroachers from the park as part of the statewide drive launched by the Forest Department in compliance with Supreme Court directive. Sources in KNP informed that the eviction drive was launched in the sixth addition of the National Park since yesterday in Maite and Keteng chaporis (riverine landmass) and so far 24 cattleshed have been evicted. The eviction drive will continue till the KNP in made free of all sorts of encroachers.

NORTH GUWAHATI, May 27 ? Eviction of illegally occupied areas having both temporary and permanent structures under Chila range of North Kamrup Forest zone stretching from Amingaon to Chawki including Gajguru, Mahekhaiti etc was carried out on May 23 in the morning. The operation was led by DFO, N Kamrup forest zone, Hiranya Kumar Sarmah with about 200 forest workers and police personnel and an elephant. It is to be noted that of the total land of Chila range amounting to 842 hectares, about 95 hectare lands were illegally occupied by encroachers who have raised there hotels, residences and...

GUWAHATI, May 26 ? The All Assam Students? Union (AASU) has accused the State Government of maintaing silence on launching an eviction drive against the encroachers at the Kaziranga National Park and encroachement on land by the tea companies. In a press release, the adviser to AASU, Sri Samujjal Bhattacharyya said that despite the Supreme Court verdict, the State Government is yet to take any step in this regard. The AASU adviser also demanded initiative to evict the Bangladeshi encroachers in various parts of the State. We also want the forest cover freed from the encroachment, but...

GUWAHATI, May 25 ? The 12-hour Guwahati bandh against the eviction drive by the Forest Department against encroachers was marred by vandalism by a section of bandh supporters. The call for the bandh was given by the Brihatar Guwahati Ussedita - Nirjatita Gana Mancha, while, several political parties and organisations including the Left parties - CPI and CPM extended their support to the bandh.

The bandh turned violent in the Maligaon area of the city as the bandh supporters resorted to stone pelting on vehicles passing by that area, in which a number of cars, autorickshaws and two wheelers...

GUWAHATI, May 24 ? State Forest Department has cleared about 2000 hectares of forest land in and around Guwahati in addition of large areas cleared of encroachers in the rest of the State in the on-going eviction drive launched on May 7 last. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), KN Dev Goswami today told newsmen here that the department is committed and bound by Supreme Court directive to clear all forest areas in the State from the clutch of encroachers.

Conservator of Forest (Central and Western Assam), D Haraprasad informed that since May 7 till today 2000 hectares of land...

GUWAHATI, May 23 ? ?We have been living here for over 50 years and today all of a sudden we have become homeless because of the Government?s eviction drive. This is despite the fact that we have been paying taxes for eksania land for all these years?, Sri Rojen Marak of Garobasti Kalapani lamented as his house was razed to the ground along with those 30-odd families in the area today.

The Garobasti area presented a very gloomy picture. The people, including children and infants, were left stranded in the rain with whatever little belongings they had exposed to the elements. ?Even now, we...