2017- A MIXED BAG FOR ENVIRONMENT

– Bhaskar J. Barua |

As the year nears its completion, a few things in the nature and environment sector in Assam stood out prominently – some of which were moral boosters and a few which missed the mark. The best outcome this year would definitely be the decrease in rhino poaching activities in Assam. The nature loving community of Assam have over the years repeatedly appealed to the Forest authorities to involve the local community as equal partners in their conservation efforts. Bureaucratic highhandedness and an inverted pyramid structure of the Forest Department however thwarted all sane voices of concern, culminating in a situation when poachers of all hue and cry started having a field day and went on a rampage to annihilate our pride – the one horned rhinoceros. But better late than never, finally a few sane voices in the department got their acts together to start the process of actively involving the community a couple of years back and one can see the results manifest itself today. This year has seen a drastic reduction in poaching activities and the icing on the cake was the incident where the local villagers in LahoreyChapori nabbed two armed poachers and handed them over to the authorities.This singular incident highlights the rich dividends to be had when the fringe area people are motivated enough to work together with the authorities with a swelling sense of pride. This model now needs to be augmented and expanded to other protected areas in Assam, particularly in sensitive and vulnerable areas like DibruSaikhowa. However the authorities and the newly crowned custodians of the fringe areas needs to be more vigilant and equipped to keep the momentum going and be ready to face newer and evolving challenges as the poachers and their trading network are well equipped and motivated enough to disrupt the current status.

Against the above background, one glaring failure stood out – the fact that five elephants including a pregnant mother was killed as a speeding train rammed into them in Sonitpur district, which cast a gloom over the state. These failures on our part are a stark reminder that these gentle giants are fighting a losing battle against habitat destruction. Some sort of accountability and compensation mechanism needs to be worked out wherein failures from any Government agencies, for instance the railways in this case, should be slapped with a steep penalty running into millions of rupees in the form of a green tax. These funds can then be utilised by the Forest Authorities to prevent random destruction of habitats, etc.

Another silver lining this year has been the numerous Environment Orientation Camps for students being organised by Nature’s Beckon in remote areas of Assam under the leadership of the indomitable Soumyadeep Dutta. These sort of activities are the need of the hour to train, motivate and equip our future generation to the challenges we face due to climate change and habitat destruction. In today’s world where conservation has been relegated to an event rather than being a process, this man and his team working silently deserves all kudos.

But again another very important sector continues to languish in continued apathy over the years and there were no appreciable steps this year too to mitigate them – the fate of our foot soldiers. At the cost of sounding repetitive, it needs to be reiterated that our Forest Guards working in the most inhospitable and dangerous of terrains, armed with antiquated firearms, living in the most inhuman conditions, far away from their families, with no pension or insurance scheme to fall back upon, continue to patrol and protect our fragile eco system 24 x 7. To expect miracles from them would be living in a fool’s paradise. We wish that in the coming year, the authorities address this issue with the importance it deserves.

The issue of High Lands inside Kaziranga generated quite a hue and cry last year. It is imperative to understand that indiscriminate construction of high lands inside the park without proper study of the water dynamics will create havoc in terms of grassland management which is so very crucial for the survival of our signature species. Already the channels through which the Brahmaputra flood water enters the park are heavily silted and urgent steps are necessary to ensure the protection of this wonderful Flood Alluvial Plain Forest.

Let us all hope and vow to work together in the coming years to ensure a green and unpolluted environment for the future progeny if we want our legacy to prevail.