DIGBOI, March 15 � An arboretum for growing of all the plant species available in Assam has been proposed to be set up to the north of Upper Dehing (West Block) Reserve Forest near Bogapani in the vicinity of Digboi within Lakhipathar Forest Range under Digboi Forest Division. The arboretum will be a 50-hectare project to be carried out in three phases. In the first phase an area of 20 hectares is sought to be covered, in the second phase 20 hectares and in the third phase the remaining 10 hectares will be used up. The whole area will be broken up into small segments of 400 square metres and each segment will have one particular species of plant.
The site of the arboretum, now lying bare and desolate, could once boast of being the very heart of the primaeval forest. But due to several biotic and edaphic factors the area now stands depleted of its earlier forest wealth. The DFO of Digboi Forest Division, P Sivakumar IFS has taken note of this fact and is out to establish the arboretum here to conserve the plant species which are now available in the forests of Assam and also those species which have become rare and endangered. The arboretum will in the long run be the kind of a botanical garden for research and study purposes of academic circles and forest enthusiastis and the general public as well.
The Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia district, Dr KK Dwivedi, is also keen on the project. It is reliably learnt that an amount of Rs 30 lakh has already been earmarked from the untied fund available with the Tinsukia district administration towards setting up of the arboretum.
Incidentally, the Digboi arboretum is going to be India�s second of the kind, next only to the oldest one in the National Forest Institute in Dehradun established during the British rule.
