GUWAHATI, March 29 � The south bank of Brahmaputra in Kamrup requires more focus from the forest department considering some recent developments. Trees in large numbers are being felled and a change in land use is being observed.
This reporter, who was in the landscape recently observed that many huge trees have been cut for various reasons, and along with that has disappeared a range of fauna. Avifauna in particular has been hit hard as they have less space as habitats. No doubt that bird sighting in the southwestern parts of Assam has plummeted in the last few decades.
Scientific focus so far has concentrated on the North Bank Landscape, but the southern parts of the Brahmaputra is just as exciting for the field zoologist and botanist.
A forest official, who did not wish to be named, said that there is a paucity of human resources when it comes to protecting flora and fauna in south of the Brahmaputra. �What we require is a landscape approach and not an approach centered on one or two mega species,� he said.
West and south of Guwahati city lies Deepor beel and Chandubi beel, which have suffered from human interventions in the last two decades to an extent that sightings of birds and animals have dropped drastically. Satellite imagery indicates, Deepor and Chandubi have seen a depletion in their feeder channels.
