With the North-east teeming with 63 species of bamboo, which account for nearly 50 per cent of the total species of woody monocots found in India, the Deovan-based Rain Forest Research Institute here is gearing up to emerge as a
Often termed as poor man's timber, bamboo, with its various new applications can well be an alternative housing solution for the earthquake prone areas due to its high tensile strength structurally. Exploring the use of bamboo as an alternative to the rapidly depleting wood resources in housing and other industrial activities, a three-day residential training programme on modern bamboo structures and housing will be organised at Kohra, Kaziranga National Park from March 6 to 8, 2008. The programme is jointly organised by Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre and Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. The programme aims to provide technical know-how on the use of the bamboo technology as a whole, particularly in the housing sector and in varied structural applications. "For the first time a workshop of such magnitude on bamboo technology is being organised in Kaziranga dealing with the new applications of bamboo other than the traditional use,' said the sources in the CBTC. The programme, targeting the civil engineers, architects, consultants, builders, developers contractors, entrepreneurs and NGOs among others, would have partici-pants mainly from North East as well as neighbouring Nepal. The training programme would elaborately deal with the topics including bamboo of NE India, availability and suitability for building construction, the structure of bamboo and its mechanical and engineering properties, durability and preservation of bamboo, code an standards bamboo in building construction, bamboo structures for eco-tourism and earthquake prone areas, introduction to bamboo applications for industrial and housing materials, engineered bamboo products and its usefulness in housing industry, bamboo construction for rural housing and bamboo policies and impact on national and regional developmental issues. In order to tap the abundant bamboo resources of the North East; the North Eastern Council (NEC) launched the North East Regional Bamboo Mission aimed at sustainable development of the bamboo sector. The CBTC, established in 2000 is a registered body under the auspices of the NEC, which is carrying out the mandate of the North East Bamboo Mission since October 2004. The CBTC has now undertaken a wide range of bamboo constructions in and around the NE region both in public and private sectors. On the other hand, the BMTPC is actively involved in developing bamboo-based technologies and promoting those technologies in the bamboo growing areas including the North East.
Alarmed by the killing of at least 22 rhinos last year and four this year by poachers, the Assam Forest Department has decided to seek people's help to save the pachyderm. Owners of restaurants, resorts, dhabas, tea garden authorities and villagers have been roped in to save the endangered one-horned rhino at the Kaziranga National Park. The Forest department held a series of meetings with restaurant and resort owners near the National Park, a World Heritage site. They were also told that it was their fundamental duty under Article 51A of the Constitution to protect wildlife, a forest official said. "The department feels that the owners should be aware of the identity of the customers because there is a possibility of poachers planning their activities in such places,' Chief Conservator of Forest Bishen Singh Bonal said. Bonal, who was deputed to the park for making an on-the-spot assessment, said: "The forest department alone cannot fully protect the animals... there should be a joint effort from all concerned to save the animals.' There are nearly 90 dhabas, restaurants and resorts on the 40-km stretch from Bokakhat to Burapahar along the national highway running adjacent to the park. A series of meetings were held early this month with neighbouring tea garden authorities for ensuring their cooperation, the forest official said. "In most occasions it is seen that the animals are targeted when they venture out of the park into tea garden areas where there is no security and hence the need to educate the garden authorities,' he said. On animals crossing the national highway and entering the neighbouring hill district of Karbi Anglong where they fell prey to poachers, Bonal said his department would highlight the need to declare the nearly 70 sq km stretch in the district a protected area. The department had also stressed setting up police outposts in Rongbong and Dholerwaran areas which would help in countering poachers, most of whom entered the park area through the Karbi Anglong corridor, he said. Bonal said apart from these steps, talks were also held with villagers and headmen to socially boycott any person having links with poaching and poachers. "We have received overwhelming support with the people agreeing in one voice to socially ostracise anybody involved in poaching,' he said. The Forest Department decided to adopt the pro-active measures after drawing flak from various quarters for large- scale poaching of the one-horned rhinos in the national park.
Heaving a sigh of relief after the prolonged bird flu scare in the State, the All Assam Poultry Farmers' Association (AAPFA) has divulged that the poultry industry in the State has managed to regain the lost market up to at least 60 per cent ever since the ban on the import of poultry products was lifted, excluding the West Bengal origin products. The association further informed that as the sale is going higher with every passing day, the prices of the poultry products, especially livestock would go up, thanks to the limited stocks of birds and other poultry products in the market. The State Government, it may be mentioned, had lifted the ban on the import of the poultry products a couple of days back. Culling of birds in bordering districts of Kokrajhar and Dhubri followed the ban, which was imposed after the outbreak of the avian influenza in the neighbouring West Bengal. Rajib Sarma, secretary of AAPFA, predicting a stiff rise in the prices of the poultry products in the next 10 to 15 days, said, Though chickens are now being sold at Rs 50 in the wholesale market, it is expected to go to around Rs 65 at least. "At present, as no livestock is being imported, the industry has failed to meet the demand, especially in the city,' Sarma pointed out. He, however, asserted that the local production would certainly get a boost in the next one month as the import of bird feed to the State has been allowed. "Our primary concern was regarding the acute shortage of feed, the ban on which was virtually throwing the entire poultry industry to the jaws of death. But the early decision on the part of the State Government to lift the ban has averted a major blow to the poultry industry,' Sarmah reiterated. It needs mention here that the region depends on States like West Bengal for at least 7,000 kilograms of chickens per day. Meanwhile, the association has also urged the State Government to release the money under the development project so that the industry can be revitalised quicker.
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.
Maverick physician Dr Dhani Ram Baruah today claimed to have invented a vaccine,
SILCHAR, Feb 20
The newly introduced National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has succeeded in getting positive response in Barkshetri development block areas in Nalbari district especially among the labour class people. In this minority-dominated development block which has three gaon panchayats in char areas, work of about Rs 4.50 crore are under way and more than 2000 labourers are getting daily work in those projects.
