GUWAHATI, Oct 24: As many as fourteen smaller wildlife sanctuaries in Assam which too have been ravaged by the recent floods have gone un-noticed while Kaziranga National Park (KNP), the world-famous abode of the endangered one-horned rhinoceros has received international attention and got financial and other material assistance from wildlife lovers the world over.Regretting this situation, Bibhav Talukdar, eminent Guwahati-based environment activist said here today that while the media has been focussing on Kaziranga, the damage done by the floods to the other sanctuaries were suffering silently.``Pabitora, a small wildlife sanctuary hardly one hour's drive east of Guwahati, for instance, has been severely affected by the recent floods, but nobody has simply bothered to care for it,'' Talukdar, whose Aranyak Nature Club has been pressing the authorities to pay attention to the smaller sanctuaries.There has been extensive damage to the roads and bridges inside Pabitora, a 16 sq km sanctuary whosearea has been proposed to be extended to 38 sq km soon, while several camps of the forest guards too have been washed away, Talukdar said.When contacted, officials in the State Forest (Wildlife) Department confirmed this, adding that a detailed proposal for repairing the flood-damage has been already put up before the government.``We have prepared detailed report for each of the sanctuaries in addition to Kaziranga and Manas national parks, and while the Centre and the state governments have already sanctioned a total of Rs 1.08 crore for Kaziranga, funds for the other sanctuaries are also on their way,'' a senior forest (wildlife) official told The Indian Express here today.Three other smaller wildlife sanctuaries which have suffered from floods extensively are Orang, Dibru-Saikhowa and Burha-Chapori, the official informed. Of these, Dibru-Saikhowa, recently declared as a biosphere reserve is the worst sufferer, located virtually on the Brahmaputra in Upper Assam region.
