Green cover downs in insurgency-hit Assam districts
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18/09/2008
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Shillong Times (Shillong)
Guwahati: Insurgency has claimed yet another casualty in Assam in the form of decreasing forest cover in strife-torn hilly districts, though the state still boost of a better forest cover than the national average.
The forest cover in districts such as Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills has gone down according to Forest Survey report, 2005, Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain informed here on Wednesday.
These districts have been encountering serious insurgent problems with tribal militant groups creating grave law and order problems in these virgin lands.
Besides insurgency, encroachment and jhum cultivation were also adversely affecting the green cover, the study carried out by the government said.
Insurgency had earned for the Manas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, 'in danger' tag after Bodo militancy in the 90s wiped out the entire rhino population of the park, besides killing large number of other animals.
The park is yet to fully recover and do away with the