The living condition of the people of Paschim Ratiadaha part-II village under Bisondoi gaon panchayat in the far western part of the Indo-Bangladesh border in Golokganj LAC of Dhuburi district are in a deplorable state as the villagers are yet to see the development even after six decades of India's Independence. The heavy-erosion of the river Gangadhar has made more than 300 families of Ratiadaaha part-II village homeless and has devastated their cultivable lands. As a result, the homeless families have to take shelter on roads and dykes.

DHUBRI

Even after more than a decade of its launching, the multi-crore costing Gangadhar Irrigation Project is lying abandoned causing severe hardship to thousands of poor farmers of the Greater area. Located at Unjan Petla village of Asom-Bengal was launched under the supervision of the Dhubri district branch of the State Irrigation Department.

The Mahamaya forest area, once a resourceful and dense forest area in the district of Dhubri is on the way to silent anhilation due to the activities of some unscruplous forest officials and workers. The area is witnessing large scale deforestation due to the felling of trees, which is also resulting in depletion of the flora and fauna, all of which is attributable to the activities of the timber smugglers. Unfortunately these smugglers operate under the very eyes of the officials of the Forest Department.

The Centre proposes to deploy four Cutter Suction Dredgers (CSD) and a Hydraulic Surface Dredger (HSD) on Brahmaputra river in addition to the ones currently operating. Four more CSD and one HSD units are under construction for deployment in the Brahmaputra River National Waterway, said Union Minister for Shipping, TR Baalu.

The Purni Drinking Water Supply Scheme has been a cause of concern for the people of Purni village under Golakganj LAC of Dhubri district. According to sources, the purni drinking water supply scheme which was launched 21 years ago with 29 taps. After its installation, it properly functioned for several years, but due to the lackadaisical attitude of the PHE department, the scheme has virtually become nonexistent. The people of the area have been deprived of potable water for a long time. Due to the lack of timely repair, lack of sand supply, lack of diesel supply and nonpayment of electricity bills the supply of potable water became irregular for which the taps remained nonfunctional and the pipes were also stolen away by some miscreants. The two diesel engines have also been reportedly stolen away. The filtration chamber too is lying abandoned. It is to be recalled here that in absence of the PHE workers, the doors and windows of the residence have also been taken away by some miscreants besides many other materials of th PHE. People have urged the authorities concerned to repair the potable water supply scheme earlier so that the villagers are benefited by the scheme, sources added.

Diarrhoea has taken epidemic turn in Kanaimara, Boraikhandi and its neighnouring villages under South Salmara-Mankachar subdivision of Dhubri district over the last few days and already claimed three lives and several others suffering from the disease are in a serious condition. One Nur Amin (2) and Sajid Ahmed of Boraikandi village died on February 20 last. On the other hand, the 10-month-old son of one Mominur Islam of the village Kanaimara died on Friday due to diarrhoea. Some other children of Kanaimara-Boraikandi villages are also reportedly in critical condition at the time of filing of this report. It may be mentioned here that though many children have been suffering from diarrhoea, and some of them have already died, the Health Department has no information in their hand. Steps are yet to be taken, the local people alleged.

River dolphin, an endangered river animal found in the Brahmaputra and a few of its tributaries, is going to be declared as the State River Animal by the State Government soon. This was disclosed by H Sarma, DFO, Dhubri at a meeting organised here by the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research (C-NES) recently. The NGO C-NES, which is working on the conservation of this rare and endangered water animal in the rivers of Assam since 2006, is holding this public awareness programme at Dhubri for the second time. In this connection, the NGO brought out an awareness rally, which was participated by fishermen families of Panchpeer char and Bahadurtari, the two riverine villages near Dhubri town where the dolphin project is run by the NGO. The rally was flagged off by Bhuban Saikia, retired lecturer of BN College. The rally was followed by spot drawing and essay writing competitions among the school students. A documentary film by Sanjay Hazarika on river dolphin of the Brahmaputra was shown to the audience. The open meeting was presided over by the DFO H Sarma, who in his presidential remark, said that dolphin is now found in Ganja, Meghna, Brahmaputra and in a river of Nepal in small numbers. This mammal's procreation period being three to four years, its population is gradually decreasing. Moreover water pollution, poaching and fishing by fine gill net have added to rapid depletion of dolphin population, he added. According to him the only remedy is awareness of the people both in poaching of the animal and in keeping the water unpolluted. He also suggested preservation of the breeding ground of the river creatures. Generally dolphins came to the marshy lands (beels) for breeding purposes. The Sareswar bill in Dhubri district is one such breeding ground for the water creatures, Sarma added. The meeting was also addressed by Mehboob Hussain, DPO, SSA, Dhubri and a few others. The meeting started with a couple of Goalparia songs sung by radio artist Charu Bala Roy wihle Manik Barua of C-NES anchored the meeting successfully. The aims and objectives of the NGO was narrated by Bhaskarjyoti Saud. Saud revealed that poaching of dolphin has come down after fishermen were provided with an alternative bait for cat fish fishing. The NGO is also trying to provide the people with some alternative means of earning through formation of self help groups.

At a time when the State Government is blowing its own trumpet saying that it is serious about preserving the forest resources of the State and has implemented schemes like the Seuj Prakalpa, massive denudation of forest cover in the reserve forest in Dhubri district has made the State Government's so-called "intention' a mockery of sorts. According to sources, Dhubri district has become a safe haven for timber smugglers which has threatened the very existence of the forest resources in the district. Unabated felling of trees in the reserve forests and roadside areas is going on in spite a ban being imposed by the Supreme Court. Due to the rapid deforestation in the district, reserve forests like the Pabatjhara, Rupsi, Guma, Mahamaya are on the verge of being names only. Smugglers are illegally trading the timber varieties like gomari, newly-grown sal, segun, titasap, that too in broad daylight, in these reserve forests under Parbatjhora and Dhubri Forest divisions. Valuable small and medium-sized logs are being carried on thelas and bicycles to Tamarhat Guma Ferry Ghat and supplied to Bengal on horse carts, through Boxirhat and Chhotaguma areas crossing the Gangadhar (Sonkosh) river on boats. A huge quantity of logs are daily being ferried along the banks of the Gangadhar at Guma Ferry Ghat. It is worth mentioning here that valuable timber are also sold in the weekly markets of Tamarhat and Paglahat. People here blame the forest department officials and guards for an unprecedented increase in smuggling incidents in the area. They have alleged that it is due to an unholy nexus of the forest department officials and guards with the smugglers that these illegal acts are being carried out. The local people have alleged that these smugglers have been paying huge amounts of money to the forest officials on a monthly basis. Reacting sharply over the Forest Department's inaction to protect the forest cover from getting depleted, the people here have said that if the Government does not takes any step to stop this illegal practice with an iron hand, the whole forest cover in the district would soon vanish and hence, would also affect the ecological balance.

A high-level expert committee meeting involving the representatives of the State Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department and a host of other related departments today formally recommended the lifting of poultry import ban in Assam, with the final notification likely to be issued in two days. Moreover, the committee has also vouched for the formulation of a special developmental scheme, which would aim at compensating the loss incurred by the farmers of the poultry industry in the State after the government ordered culling of birds as a precautionary measure.