13-Jan-2018: Sikkim allows people to forge fraternal ties with trees
The Government of Sikkim has come up with a unique way of preserving trees by encouraging people to forge a relationship of brotherhood or sisterhood with trees through a practice locally known as Mith/Mit or Mitini.
A recent notification by the Forests, Environment & Wildlife Management Department, Government of Sikkim titled Sikkim Forest Tree (Amity & Reverence) Rules 2017 states that the “State government shall allow any person to associate with trees standing on his or her private land or on any public land by entering into a Mith/Mit or Mitini relationship.”
‘Own child’ - The notification also states that a person can also adopt a tree “as if it was his or her own child in which case the tree shall be called an adopted tree.”
A third way to forge a relationship with a tree is by “preserving a tree in remembrance of a departed relative in which case the tree shall be called a smriti tree.”
In case an individual wants to forge a relationship with a tree which does not stand on his or her land but another’s, the person concerned shall execute an agreement with the owner and compensate him or her in terms of the market value of the timber or the wood contained in the tree.
In the second scenario if the person desires to enter into a relationship with a tree located on public land then permission from the said department or agency needs to be taken.
For every clause, the Sikkim Forest Department has issued specific forms which a person will have to fill up and submit to the forest authorities. After verification the Assistant Conservator of Forests will register the tree in the name of the person concerned.
The idea behind the notification came from Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling. The notification is in consonance with the age-old tradition of promoting amity between man and nature, particularly trees.
As per the Forest Survey of India, 2015 the forest cover of Sikkim is 47.80 % of the State’s total geographical area. Over the past few years the State government has also started an initiative of identifying heritage trees where 21 trees of 25-ft. girth and above and 32 trees of 20-25 ft. girth have been demarcated as heritage trees.
The Sikkim Forest Tree (Amity & Reverence) Rules also prohibit felling or damage to any tree registered as Mith/Mit or Mitini, adopted or smriti and points out that any such violation shall be treated as a forest offence.
12-Jan-2018: Environment Ministry refuses captive breeding of Chiru.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests has refused to allow captive breeding of the Tibetan antelope, whose underfur is used for making the famous shahtoosh shawls. The shawls’ sale and possession is banned in India and in many countries.
The ministry rejected the suggestion made by a Parliament panel asking to consider captive breeding as it will add to livelihood of Kashmiris. It also cited that China and Mongolia are breeding Chiru goats (Tibetan antelope) for its wool, which is very expensive. The cost of an embroidered shahtoosh shawl can run into crores of rupees.
Chiru have long been hunted for their underfur, which is renowned for its quality and has traditionally been transported to Srinagar, where it is woven into an extremely fine fabric to make shawls. It takes three to five hides to make a single shawl, and the wool cannot be sheared or combed; to collect the fur, the animals have to be killed.
The Parliament panel was of the view that the ministry should conserve and breed the Chiru goat, which can then be given to shawl makers for collecting hair. This would increase the number of these goats but would also add to the sustainable livelihood opportunities of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who are a lot dependant on the handicraft of embroidered shawls.
The ministry said the Chiru is assessed as ‘Near Threatened’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature 2017. There have been representations from weavers and traders in J&K for the removal of ban on trade in shahtoosh through amendments in the Wildlife Acts of India.
The Chinese failed to keep the Chiru in captivity due to its poor survival rates. Any attempt to do conservation breeding of the Chiru at very high altitude regions of Ladakh may neither be economical nor feasible as humans cannot be posted there for more than two-three months.
29-Dec-2017: Government launches a new scheme for protection of Majuli Island in Assam.
The Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has laid the foundation stone for a new scheme for protection of Majuli Island in Assam from flood and erosion of river Brahmaputra, at an estimated cost of Rs. 233.57 crore.
The scheme has been framed by Brahmaputra Board based on the recommendations of the high level Expert Committee of the Government of India that visits the island at least twice a year to monitor and recommend anti-erosion measures. The major components of the scheme include (a) Bank revetment with geo bags filled with earth / sand for a reach length of 27 km in 14 locations (b) RCC porcupine works in 41 locations (c) Construction of a sluice and (d) Construction of a Pilot channel for a length of 3.50 km. The scheme was sanctioned by Government of India in March, 2017. The funding for the project would be from Ministry of DoNER.
Majuli District with an area of 1245 sq. km, includes main the Majuli Island with an area of 522 sq. km, a large number of smaller islands some of which are inhabited and the Brahmaputra River upto its south bank touching Jorhat and Sibsagar Districts. The area of the island was 734 sq. km in 1914 whereas, the minimum area was recorded to be 502 sq. km in 2004. Geomorphologically, the entire Majuli island is a part of the alluvial flood plains of the Brahmaputra river. The Island is formed of soil consisting mainly of silt deposits. The soil is without cohesion and thus, susceptible to erosion. The problem of erosion has been severe after the disastrous earthquake of 1950. As per Survey of India topo-sheets and satellite imagery data, area lost by the Island is 206.7 sq. km from the year 1949 upto the year 2004. Although some measures were taken in the form of embankment and anti-erosion work by Government of Assam, the problem of erosion and flood remained mostly uncontained. The embankments built during the 60s were in poor condition.
Brahmaputra Board was initially requested by Government of Assam in 1999 to take up necessary measures for protection of the Island. Formal ‘No Objection’ of Government of Assam for execution of flood and erosion protection works in Majuli Island was communicated in August 2003. Work was started by Brahmaputra Board in January 2004 in 4 phases. The total expenditure incurred in these 4 phases up to October, 2017 is Rs. 185.88 crore. Major works carried out under these schemes includes raising and strengthening of 96.25Km embankment with breach closure at 24 locations, construction of 5 spurs with Boulder and Geo-bag, construction of noses of land spurs at Sonowal Kachari & Kandulimari, numerous RCC porcupine screens, spurs etc. at erosion affected reaches, bank revetment for a length of 4.11 km at 4 locations and 5 numbers of raised Platforms.
Before the protection work was taken up by the Board, cultivation could not be done in many areas of the island such as Malowal-Malapindha during kharif season due to large numbers of breaches in the embankment. People suffered from flooding year after year and land of the island was lost at about 2.5 sq. km in a year. Due to raising and strengthening of 96.25 km of existing embankment, the entire area of Majuli Island within the embankment is now secured from floods unless there is breach in embankment. Communication from remote areas has improved as people use these embankments as roads. Due to implementation of the anti-erosion and pro-siltation measures such as RCC porcupine, bank revetment and spurs, the situation of Majuli Island has now reversed in most areas. Erosion in most of the vulnerable locations except for a length of about 10km along Brahmaputra could be contained due to these measures. Judicious laying of porcupine screens encouraged heavy siltation and have brought about favourable changes in the river morphology and regime. Reclamation of land started and area of Majuli Island increased from 502.21 sq. km in 2004 to 524.29 sq. km in 2016 with net gain of 22.08 sq. km as per study on satellite imageries. Thus, not only overall erosion of the Island is arrested, but the trend has been reversed favourably.
It is noteworthy that Brahmaputra is one of the most difficult rivers to tackle as it is very dynamic with morphology changing continuously. Measures adopted elsewhere may not be applicable in this river which is 3rd largest in the world and carries highest silt amongst the rivers of its size.
In appreciation of the positive results of the works carried out by Brahmaputra Board at Majuli, Government of Assam moots to entrust several new works to Brahmaputra Board. These works include protection from erosion of Brahmaputra at Neamatighat area near Jorhat, protection of Mikirgaon area in Morigaon District and protection of 3 locations on the right bank of Brahmaputra between Bogibeel bridge and Majuli Island. The Board is in the process of preparation of the proposals and will finalize the same through the Expert Committee for obtaining approval. Once techno-economically approved, Board will seek a funding agency to execute these works.