Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The campaign to save Majuli,the largest riverine island in the world,received a shot in the arm on Tuesday with Union Forest and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh saying the Centre would soon declare it an eco-sensitive zone.
Majuli is a unique cultural and ecological system that needs tremendous support for protection and conservation, said Ramesh after his day-long trip to the island on the Brahmaputra in Assam. Majuli has been facing serious threats from bank erosion caused by the Brahmaputra. It has been demanding a World Heritage Site tag for more than a decade now.
Ramesh said while he had already asked the Assam government to put up a proposal for taking up schemes to protect the island from erosion and other ecological problems,he would also ask the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) to do a comprehensive study for protecting the birds,fish and river dolphins found in the island and its surroundings.
The 13th Finance Commission had only recently made a special grant of Rs 5 crore for preservation of the cultural heritage of the island. Majuli has been the epicentre of Assamese music and culture,with several Vaishnavite Satras established here since the 16th century playing a pivotal role in propagation of Satriya music and other art forms.
The minister said while the government would soon declare Majuli an eco-sensitive zone,care would be taken that it does not affect the traditional livelihood of the island-dwellers. Majuli,also home to the Mishing tribals,has several villages inhabited by Scheduled Caste communities engaged in making pots with hands and not potters wheel.
Ramesh said the Centre has always backed the Assam governments proposal,requesting UNESCO to declare the island as a World Heritage Site. The area of Majuli has shrunk from about 1200 sq km in the end of the 19th century to just about 450 sq km today. Ramesh also visited a Vaishnavite Satra and a newly established tourist resort on the island.
