Environment / Assam

SILCHAR, February 17: Another hurdle in the way of the 1500-MW Tipaimukh hydel power project has been removed with tribal leaders spearheading a movement against it agreeing to the project. The Rs 3,200-crore project is the largest ever multipurpose scheme in the Northeast. Tribal leaders of a vigilante group named the Tipaimukh Hydro Electric Power Project Affected Villages Welfare Association, who had earlier opposed the project, have now veered round to put their seal of approval on it. Association president Chaltonlien Amo and association secretary S.L. Gangte, in a letter to Prime...

GUWAHATI, February 13: The Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) has served a closure notice on the Digboi Refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation for violating pollution norms, according to PCBA sources here. According to the PCBA, the digboi Refinery, the oldest refinery in the country, has been releasing pollutants beyond permissible limit and the effluents released by the refinery through the Mission Para Nullah are also not maintained well, while the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) for treating the water to make it pollution free leaves much to be desired. The closure notice was served on...

PATHSALA, February 10: An environmental study report prepared by Dulal Goswami, Professor and Head of the Department of Environmental Science, GU has been submitted recently to the Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) on the Kothar Ali, a PWD road in Barpeta district to facilitate its conversion to a National Highway (NH). BRTF officials also assisted him in preparing the survey report. It may be mentioned here that much water has flowed down the Brahmaputra since the proposal for conversion of the road to a NH on mutual understanding and co-operation between the Ministry of External Affairs...

GUWAHATI, February 11: The endangered and rare plant species of the Northeast, specially those of the State, are in for a major boost in growth and production with the setting up of a most modern "Greenhouse" at the Department of Biotechnology of Gauhati University here. The house will be primarily used for "acclimatising and hardening" of plants developed from the tissue-culture laboratory already existing at the department, informed PJ Handique, Faculty Member of the Department and Principal Investigator of the project under which the house is being set up. "Our top priority is for mass...

GUWAHATI, February 4: Deepar Beel, the lone Ramsar site of the State and second of the kind in the Northeast region, after Loktak in Manipur, can be saved from degradation only with the help of the local fishermen who have been depending on the beel traditionally for centuries. For these are the people who regard the beel as their Goddess of wealth and the source to continue their life and culture. Unlike the greedy land grabbing members of the society's elite section, these people are against any attempt at turning the beel area in to a 'developed area' as has been proposed time to time by...

GUWAHATI, February 3: Fishing activities are on their peak in the Deepar beel, the lone Ramsar site, i.e. the internationally recognised wetland, of the State. About 10,000 people of seven villages in the outskirts of this capital city, and about 200 families of Matihari district in Bihar are depending on this beel for their livelihood. For the residents of Keotpara, Natunbasti, Medhipara, Heerapara, Noapara, Hatuapara and Matia near Azara on the western fringe of the city, the beel is their Goddess Lakshmi - the Goddess of wealth. They offer a Ganga Puja to satisfy the beel in the Assamese...

TEZPUR, February 3: The first phase of the 405 MW capacity Ranganadi hydel power project in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh is now at the final stage and is expected to be commissioned by the middle of the year while the second and third phase of the project is expected to be commissioned by 2002. Talking to The Assam Tribune official sources said that the Northeastern Council (NEC) project which started in 1989 at the original project cost of Rs 312.78 crore was entrusted to the Northeastern Electrical Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) and was scheduled to be commissioned in...

TEZPUR, February 3: With the gradual increase in the population of Indian one-horned rhinoceros at the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, efforts are on by the Assam Forest department to shift them (rhinoceros unicornis) to Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary in Sonitpur district. Talking to The Assam Tribune, RK Das, DFO, Tezpur Division, said with 44-sq km area Burachapori can accommodate a sizeable number of rhinos at the sanctuary. Besides the inaccessibility and contiguity will help the wildlife to flourish, Das said, adding that poaching here is at a low ebb in...

GUWAHATI, February 2: The mighty Brahmaputra has been shifting towards the south throughout its 800 km course in Assam, according to satellite imageries, reports UNI. The Pune based Central Water and Power Research Station's satellite imageries caught this astonishing development, according to the Chief Engineer of the State's Flood Control Department. The shifting of the river has resulted in heavy erosion on the southern side compared to the north. 'As the intensity grew in the southern side we formulated both long and short term plans to combat the situation,' the Chief Engineer said. Most...

TEZPUR, February 1: In an apparent bid to increase the Bodo population at the proposed Bodoland area on the north bank of the Brahmaputra in Sonitpur district Bodo persons are once again daily flocking from Kokrajhar and Darrang districts and are encroaching the virgin land at Sonai-Rupai game sanctuary, 45 kms from here in Sonitpur district. With 220 sq kms are and declared as the second core of the Nameri tiger reserve (under Nameri National Park) the encroachers have started deforesting the area despite the State Government and Forest Department efforts to dissuade them from doing so...