Govt. to declare Majuli an eco-sensitive zone

KAMALABARI - Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday (April 06) said the Central Government will soon declare the world’s largest river island of Majuli an eco-sensitive zone.

“I am persuaded that without affecting the livelihood of people of Majuli, the Government of India will declare Majuli as an eco-sensitive zone. We will work with the people of Assam to take measures particularly to protect people of Majuli from continuing and recurring problems of flood and soil erosion,” said Ramesh during his day-long trip to the island on the River Bharamaputa in Assam state.

Moreover, the minister announced a financial package of Rs 50 million to save the island from extinction and asked the Bombay Natural History Society to do a comprehensive study for protecting the birds, fishes and river dolphins found in the island and surroundings.he threat to Majuli’s existence began in 1950 after a severe earthquake shifted the riverbed and caused massive silting that in turn led to heavy erosion, especially during the monsoon.he island once covered 1,500 square kilometer that is now reduced to just 421.65 square kilometre.

Majuli has been the cultural capital of Assam since the 16th century when a social reformer, Sankardeva, who preached Vaishnavism, a tradition of Hinduism that worships Lord Vishnu as he supreme deity, visited the island and established monasteries and hermitages known as ‘Satras’. (ANI)