KALAIGAON, Oct 8 - The members of Dhansiri-Sikaridanga JFMC man-made forest situated in the triangular meeting point of Assam-Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan border have a reason to rejoice this year with the arrival of several wild elephant herds into the lush inviting greenery covering an area of nearly 1,000 hectares.
It may be pertinent to add here that a dedicated band of green warriors of the locality had successfully converted an erstwhile barren, rocky and sandy area into a picturesque green forest with plantation of more than 12 lakh saplings of various species since 2014.
They had another reason to rejoice on October 4 last while receiving public gifts, including binocular and digital camera with good zooming provision.The items were formally handed over to them at a modest function at Maibra camp inside the man-made forest near Bhairabkunda.
The programme was organised by the members of Dhansiri-Sikaridanga JFMC man- made forest and was attended by Prakash Ranjan Gharphalia, Deputy Commissioner of Udalguri and his wife Jeuti Chetia Gharphalia; Naba Kumar Bordoloi, DFO of Dhansiri Forest Division,Udalguri; Dipen Boro, president of ABSU; Santosh Kumar, Deputy Commandant of 61 SSB and Jayanta Das, honorary Wildlife Warden of Udalguri.
The Deputy Commissioner took a trip inside the man-made forest along with his wife and DFO to study the infrastructural set-up. Later, the Deputy Commissioner and DFO formally handed over the camera and binocular to the officials of Dhansiri-Sikaridanga JFMC man-made forest.
Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, Deputy Commissioner Gharphalia thanked the philanthropic people who had donated the camera and binocular to the needy but worthy green warriors of Sikaridanga.
He also said that the Dhansiri-Sikaridanga JFMC man-made forest was an example of successful joint forest management in Assam which was worthy of emulation. He expressed his pleasure after seeing wild herds of the slatey-grey giants wandering inside the man-made forest, which according to him would contribute to reduce human-elephant conflict in the district.
ABSU president Dipen Boro also addressed the green warriors and stressed the need for generating alternative livelihood along with conservation of flora and fauna. DFO Naba Kumar Bordoloi thanked the members of the man-made forest for contributing in the process of regenerating green cover in the district by planting more and more trees, and thereby adding lungs to the society.
Deputy Commandant Santosh Kumar of 61 SSB also assured the members of the JFMC man-made forest of their support towards the green mission.
�The 61 SSB would provide some gadgets to the JFMC for maintaining a good data base,� Santosh Kumar said.
Honorary Wildlife Warden Das narrated the story of procuring items from a few large-hearted nature-loving people in response to his appeal vide Twitter for supporting the green warriors of Sikaridanga.
He said that the camera and binoculars were purchased with the money received from people online. He specially thanked journalist Mrinal Talukdar, social worker-cum-teacher Dimpy Bora and Tonmoy Saikia, besides others for launching a campaign in the social media platform.
