Environment / Assam

Dibrugarh, May 12: A young researcher from Dibrugarh University’s department of life sciences has been chosen by British Petroleum to spearhead its Gangetic river dolphin conservation programme in Assam. Abdul Wakid is one of 29 conservationists from 25 countries to be selected from a list of 350 to conduct the campaign to save the globally endangered species. The yearlong programme is scheduled to get under way in October.

Known as shihu in this part of the country, the population of the Gangetic river dolphin in the Brahmaputra has dipped because of various factors. A mere 266 dolphins were...

KOKRAJHAR, May 11 – Inspite of several landmark initiatives and the new policies and the boasts of the Department of Forests, Govt of Assam, destruction of forests throughout lower Assam is unabated and Kokrajhar district is not lagging behind. Wanton destruction of forests in Kokrajhar district which cover more than 1.5 lakh hectare reserve forest right from Ripu, etc has been seriously damaged by the timber mafia where people from all sectors even from enlightened groups to daily workers hankering after the timber resources.

The destruction scenario has come to such a state that Bisiram...

GOLAGHAT, May 10 – It is world’s most famous sanctuary for the endangered one-horned rhino, but the plight of the Kaziranga National Park does not find any mention in the speeches of politicians. The 859 sq km Park spans five constituencies, including Bokakhat, but the politicians here seem to be oblivious of its existence. This despite the fact that during elections, the candidates and their retinues have been regularly using the National Highway-37, the road east of the park to attend election meetings.

“Barring a 376 square km stretch of land where illegal migrants have settled, the park...

GUWAHATI, May 8 – The State Forest Department has extended its afforestation drive for the city — Seuj Prakalpa — to cover the entire State. It will now encompass 23 other districts where a total of 23 lakh saplings will be planted. Started a year ago with the objective of bestowing a green cover on the city and mitigating its complex problems of flash floods and soil erosion, the project has so far planted six lakh saplings as against the target of ten lakh. Now, this too has been revised to 12 lakhs.

“We regard this as a good implementation rate, considering the constraints any first-time...

GUWAHATI, May 6 – Unbridled illegal transfer of land ownership to non-tribals over a vast area under the South Kamrup (Guwahati) tribal belt in the past few years has posed a grave threat to the very existence of the belt itself. Over 200 bighas of land falling under tribal belt at the Dimoria block alone are now owned by non-tribals, thanks to these unlawful dealings.

Revealing this, the Brihattar Dimoria Bhumi Hastantar Nirikshan Samiti, a body of several powerful tribal organisations, today said a sinister nexus among the land officials, mandals and middlemen was working overtime in...

Jorhat, May 5: A census conducted by the forest department in the first week of April recorded an increase in the gibbon population in the gibbon sanctuary at Mariani along the Assam-Nagaland border. In 1998, the population of the gibbons was believed to be around 45 to 50, a forest official said.

The April census recorded 498 primates belonging to seven species. Altogether 65 hollock gibbons belonging to 17 families have been spotted in the sanctuary. “We have found three baby gibbons among the families. This is a positive sign as the breeding of gibbons is limited between a single pair only...

BILASIPARA, May 5 – The Minister of Forests, Assam, Pradyut Bordoloi has declared the Hakama Beel near here in the district of Dhubri as a bird sanctuary and community conserved reserve. Sri Bordoloi, who visited the beel on the occasion of celebration of ‘Gachh Bihu’ Asom, and Hakama Beel Bird Sanctuary Demand Committee on May 2 praised the two NGOs for rendering conservation services towards the beel to which every winter several thousands of migratory birds like pelicans, sarali hanh and other birds come and make the beel their temporary abode.

The NGOs had to take the initiative for...

DALGAON, April 11 – Dr Iasa, the Director (Conservation wing) of Wild Life Trust of India, recently visited Orang National Park. The objective of the visit was to look into matter of siltation and weeding which has posed a threat to the National Park. Talking to The Assam Tribune, Dr Iasa expressed serious concern over the two issues and stressed on immediate measures of desiltation and weeding. He has already released an amount of Rs 50,000 from his Trust for these purposes and showed keen interest for more funding in the near future.

Dr Iasa expressed much satisfaction over the...

GUWAHATI, March 31 – Disappearance of the full-grown tall nesting and roosting trees such as Kadam, Simul and Satiana (Devil tree) etc from the vital nesting sites, has been posing a serious threat to the adjutant stork species, said Dr PK Saikia of the Gauhati University (GU) Zoology Department. Adjutant storks, particularly the greater adjutant stork or hargila, are the only surviving largest wetland bird species on the earth. The largest colonies of the species in countries like Burma (Myanmar), Vietnam and Sundarban etc places have completely disappeared. But following identification of...

Kokrajhar, March 10: The Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD) executive member Bishiram Narzary has taken up an extensive programme for saving the forests within the Bodoland administrative set-up. Narzary, who holds the forest portfolio in the BTAD, has conducted a series of surprise raids, resulting in the seizure of illegal timber worth Rs 1 crore.

The BTAD is blessed with the largest forest cover in the state with a national park at Manas and three wildlife sanctuaries at Orang, Bornodi and Chakrasila besides several other reserved forests. However, militants and timber...