DERGAON, March 1: Fed up with the callousness of the government, the public of Kurkuriaghat on the north bank of the river Gelabil joined hands and built a bamboo bridge on the river without waiting for funds from the state exchequer. The main bridge on the river Gelabil was washed away by floods in 1988. But till date the bridge has not been rebuilt by the government. Rather, the matter was taken a political turn. The people of the locality got together and started to work voluntarily. They offered help in cash and kind. The construction work of the bamboo bridge was completed within a few days and finally it was formally inaugurated by the Golaghat deputy commissioner Ravi Kota. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 2 March, 2000)

AIZWAL, March 3: The spirit of celebration runs in the blood of the Mizos and during the lean period, just before the onset of monsoon, people converge on the biggest ground in the town to celebrate 'Chapchar Kut' or lean season celebration. The festivities, which begin on March 3 every year, is celebrated in other parts of the hill state too, but Aizwal hosts the biggest gathering every year. Today was no different. Over 8,000 people gathered at the Assam Rifles grounds in the heart of the town to welcome about a thousand participants who had come from far-flung areas of the state to demonstrate their skills in traditional music, dance and sports. Chief minister Zoramthanga, dressed in traditional attires exhorted the youth not to indulge in drugs and alcohol. The festivities began with the bang of muskets fired by traditional deer hunters from the state's western frontiers. Though the spectators cheered all the time, it was the 'Cherow' or bamboo dance which stole the show. The festivities ended with 'Chai' dance in which both spectators and the participants formed various circles and danced to the tune of folk songs composed specially for the occasion. Chapchar Kut is one of the oldest festivals of Mizoram. The farmers wait for the chopped bamboos they had recently cut for seasonal farming (jhum) to dry under the sun before being burnt. This is known as 'Chapchar'. (United News of India; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 4 March, 2000)

GUWAHATI, March 4: Eminent Assamese poet and prose writer, Ajit Barua was conferred with the prestigious Assam Valley Literary Award for the year 1999 at a solemn function held in Rabindra Bhawan auditorium here this evening. Jnanpith awardee C Narayana Reddy presented the literary award comprising a citation, a trophy and a cheque worth Rs 1 lakh to Ajit Barua. Barua happens to be the tenth recipient of the literary award which was conceived in February, 1990 by the Williamson Magor Education Trust. Ajit Barua has carved a niche for himself as a writer of modern sensibility who introduced the Assamese readers to various nuances of French and English literature. He has translated four books from the French language including extensive works of Albert Camus. Among his well-known publications in Assamese, his anthologies of poems Kisuman Padya Aru Gan and Brahmaputra Eityadi Padya; his novel Ekhan Premar Upanyas, his compilations of essays Sahityar Bishaye, Kabya Aru Anyanya and Bibhinna Prabandha; his translated works from the French language Niyainistha, Gadh, Plague and Manuhar; his translation of TS Eliot's Waste Land (Chan Mati) are considered rare brand of literary works which have ushered in a fusion of world classic literature in the Assamese language. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 5 March, 2000)

GUWAHATI, March 3: United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) vice-president Pradip Gogoi, who is at present lodged in the district jail here, today filed a complaint petition in the court here in connection with a news item carried by all the dailies of The Sentinel group of newspapers of the city on February 26 last alleging that Gogoi has been running a personal fiefdom in the jail. Gogoi made the Staff Reporters, Editors and Publishers of the dailies respondents to his complaint. (Press Trust of India; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 6 March, 2000)

SHILLONG, March 6: In an exciting find, geologists of the Geological Survey of India have stumbled across fossil skull parts and bone fragments of vertebrae column of a dinosaur, which must have roamed around the Northeastern region during the Cretaceous period, about 65 to 70 million years back. A large number of bone fragments, with the largest being one metre long and 20cm to 30cm thick, believed to be a leg-bone, were recovered in Ranikor-Dirang section in West Khasi Hills of Meghalaya. The GSI deputy director-general, BP Bhattacharya told The Assam Tribune today that laboratory tests conducted by the GSI Regional Office here have conclusively established that the fossil bones belonged to a dinosaur. This has been further confirmed by tests carried out by the GSI headquarters, he said. This is the first time that dinosaur fossils have been found in the northern half of the country, according to UK Mishra, director-in-charge of palaeontology division of GSI, who made the discovery. About a decade back, fossils of bones and eggs of dinosaur of Cretaceous period was first found in Saurashtra area of Gujarat. Scientists also discovered dinosaur fossils in Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh, dating 100-120 million years back. About 7-8 years back, fossils of dinosaur bones were again unearthed in Jabbalpur in Madhya Pradesh dating about 70 million years back, Mishra disclosed. Mishra said that in the entire southern part of Meghalaya from Garo Hills in the west to Jaintia Hills in the east, large numbers of fossils of molluses, foraminifers, corals, etc. which are 60-65 million years old, have been found. "All these being marine lives give a clear indication that the southern part of Meghalaya was under sea then," he observed. Besides this area, parts of present Manipur, Nagaland, the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh were also under sea, as evidenced by discovery of a large number of marine fossils in these areas, he said, adding, this was an extension of the southern sea. Another transgression of sea had taken place and marine sediments with abundant fossils were deposited in parts of Tripura-Mizoram, Mishra also said. A geologist of 20 years standing, Mishra claimed that the region has emerged as a hot-spot of biodiversity only because it was the merging point of the southern sea and Indo-Burma sea in the Cretaceous period. The GSI has proposed to the Meghalaya government to set up a 'Fossil park' in the state to preserve the rare fossils, he informed. (Bedabrata Lahkar; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 7 March, 2000)

GUWAHATI, March 6: The members of the Assamese community living in Nagaland have expressed serious concern over the distortion of facts aftermath the 'hunting episode' on February 12, in which an IAS officer of the Nagaland cadre along with some others were arrested and allegedly assaulted by the DFO, Bokakhat. In a press release faxed to The Assam Tribune here today, the Kohima Sahitya Sabha and Kohima Assamese Society have expressed concern over the gradual revelation by the local print media corroborated by the arrested persons on the inhuman treatment meted out to them allegedly by the DFO, Bokakhat. "The version of the DFO that the hunting episode ensued scuffle with the local people of the area leading to the manhandling of the arrested persons by the Assam public is causing more concern and anxiety since as per the version of the arrested, no public in Assam had any scuffle with them, neither were they manhandled," the press release said. Blaming the DFO for trying to strain the age-old relationship between the people of Assam and Nagaland by shifting his guilt to the common people of Assam, the press release stated that as per the version of the arrested persons the torture and mistreatment were meted out by the DFO with his forest guards taking the law into their hands. The release further appealed to all concerned to see that "such distortion and twisting of facts" are set right in order to avoid any bitterness and misunderstanding between the two sister states of Northeast - Assam and Nagaland. Vihili Sekhose, IAS, Secretary of Art and Culture Department of Nagaland government and four other government employees were arrested on February 12 by Assam Forest authorities for killing a number of rare animals in a reserve forest near the Kaziranga National Park. According to the division forest officer (DFO) PS Das, the IAS officer and his party killed five monkeys, two squirrels and five rare birds and five common birds in the Deopahar Reserve Forest before the forest officials and police with the help of local people nabbed them, but not before some scuffle, agency reports said. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 7 March, 2000)

KOHIMA, March 7: The chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Dileep Singh Bhuria said that the commission has decided to set up 200 'vanaspati vans' to preserve medicinal plants. Addressing the newspersons here this morning Bhuria said that each 'vanaspati van' of 500 acres would be set up in the tribal areas in the country with the help of Forest Ministry, Rural Development Ministry and other concerned ministries to preserve the medicinal plants, used particularly for making Ayurvedic medicines. The commission also proposed some transit houses in some important cities like Delhi, Calcutta and Guwahati to help the tribals during their visit to these places. (United News of India; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 8 March, 2000)

SHILLONG, March 7: The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has recently discovered a dinosaur fossil in the West Khasi district of Meghalaya, a top GSI official said here. The GSI Palaeontology division, while conducting survey work at Ranikor in the southern fringe of Meghalaya plateau, discovered the fossil, including parts of dinosaur skull and a huge bone of one meter length and 40 cm thickness, the Northeastern Region GSI director general B.P. Bhattacharya said. The survey work was done under the guidance of UK Mishra. Bhattacharya hoped the complete structure of the skeleton of these giant reptiles could be formed after further excavation, as this area was supposed to be a dinosaur habitat. He said the fossils, which had undergone a drastic morphological change due to sedimentation for over a million years, had been discovered quite sometime ago, but the findings were made public only after thorough verification and examination. The scientists were sure the dinosaur fossils found in Meghalaya were "not marine" as the marine bones "do have their peculiar shapes and structures, different from land reptiles." Bhattacharya said the discovery of these dinosaur fossils would throw light on the Palaeo-Geography (ancient Geography) of Meghalaya during the Cretaceous period (relating to the last period of Mesozoic era). He said these fossils needed to be further studied in order to ascertain the species. Though these giant reptiles once ruled the world for 115 million years, they disappeared from the face of the earth due to certain catastrophies in nature. Scientists while making a comparative study of the land composition in Gujarat, where dinosaur eggs had been found, and the land composition in Meghalaya, where dinosaur fossils have been discovered, discovered Uranium to be common in both states. The existence of Uranium - a radioactive mineral - could be "casually" related to the dinosuars' existence and extinction. "It is my opinion that the dinosaurs of Gujarat and Meghalaya lived in similar environment of geochemical characteristics," Bhattacharya said. Regarding the extinction of the giant animals, he said while there was one theory that it was caused by a giant asteroid, another theory talked about worldwide volcanic eruption in Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Explaining further about the causes of their extinction, Bhattacharya said during the Mesozoic era - which included the Jurassic period, Tertiary period and Cretaceous period - probably there was massive pollution in the environment. Due to this and some "deleterious elements which were allergic for dinosaurs" the reptiles with huge bodies and small brains failed to withstand survival, he added. (Press Trust of India; The Times of India; New Delhi; 8 March, 2000)

SHILLONG, March 9: Geologists in the Northeast are thrilled over a discovery that indicates dinosaurs must have roamed in Northeast India about 70 million years ago. Geologists stumbled upon fossilised skull parts and bone fragments of the vertebrae columns of a dinosaur belonging to the Cretaceous period, which dates back about 70 million years. The scientists working on the project under the Geological Survey of India are also optimistic that the discovery would give a new dimension to ongoing geological research in this region. The bone fragments, the largest of which is one metre in length and 20 to 30 cm thick and believed to be from a leg bone, were recovered in the Rinkor-Dirang section of the West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. The GSI director, BP Bhattacharya, told reporters that laboratory tests conducted by the regional office here have conclusively established that the fossils are those of a dinosaur. Further laboratory tests conducted by the GSI headquarters have also confirmed the findings. Palaeontologist U.K. Mishra, who made the discovery, said this was the first time that dinosaur fossils had been found in eastern India. The fossilised bones and eggs of dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period were first discovered in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. The geologist also recovered similar fossils in the Adilabad area of Andhra Pradesh that were at least 100 million to 120 million years old. Seven years ago scientists found fossils of dinosaurs at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh which were also 70 million years old. Mishra, who is trying to link the findings to discoveries in other parts of the country, said the entire southern part of Meghalaya, in the West Jaintia Hills, has an abundance of dinosaur fossils not less than 60 million to 65 million years old. He said they have collected a large quantity of fossils of molluscs, foraminifers and corals 60 million to 65 million years old. The discovery also indicates ample grounds to conclude that the entire southern part of Meghalaya was under the sea during that period, he said. Linking his findings with past records, Mishra said the GSI had earlier discovered the remains of many small animals of the sea from Mawsynram and Lawbah sections in the East Khasi Hills district. Besides Meghalaya, parts of Manipur, Nagaland, the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh were also under the sea as evidence and research conducted by the GSI indicates, Mishra said. He advocated an urgent need for fossil parks in the Northeastern region of India to preserve these precious fossils. (Manoj Anand; The Asian Age; New Delhi; 10 March, 2000)

GUWAHATI, March 10: Appropriate Technology Mission, Assam (ATMA) has demanded preservation of the Kakoijana Reserve Forest in Bongaigaon district as a wildlife sanctuary. Kakoijana, with an area of 15,000 bighas of land is the habitat of the highly endangered golden langur. Justifying its demand, the environment protection group said that section 26 A (B) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, said, inter alia, that any area comprising within any reserve forest on any part of the territorial waters considered by the state government to be of adequate ecological, faunal, geomorphological, natural or zoological significance for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment is to be included in a sanctuary. Meanwhile, the chief conservator of forests (wildlife) also moved the state government for declaration of Kakoijana Reserve Forest as a wildlife sanctuary. The move was also supported by Maneka Gandhi and Rajya Sabha MP Arun Kumar Sarma. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 11 March, 2000)

DIBRUGARH, March 11: Vegetables, salt, torchlights and general purpose batteries have suddenly become scarce in the Arunachal Pradesh capital, Itanagar, with people making panic purchases in the light of a "prediction" that a major earthquake will strike there on Sunday morning. Most of the streets of the hill town wore a deserted look from this morning, with people talking about the coming doom than anything else. The panic was created a couple of days ago when a geo-scientist from the Jorhat-based Regional Research Laboratory let the cat out of the bag that a tremor was likely around Itanagar by Sunday. As the "forecast" spread like wildfire, citizens of the town decided to prepare themselves for the impending disaster by stocking with all the food and essentials they could buy. Today, matters have come to such a stage that vegetables have vanished from Itanagar, Naharlagun and even from Harmutty in Assam, from where most of the vegetable supplies to the two Arunachali towns originate. Sources in North Lakhimpur said today there was a huge rush of customers from Itanagar and Naharlagun at the town, all making frantic purchases of edibles. It is a coincidence that the Arunachal chief minister Mukut Mithi has left for Berlin to attend a trade expo. However, the doomsday prophets want others to believe that with knowledge of an impending catastrophe, the political leaders have preferred to keep away from trouble spots. Of course, it would be ridiculous to subscribe to this point of view. (Ron Duarah; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 12 March, 2000)

NEW DELHI, March 12: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has recommended that the Northeastern states may use the members of the Assam Human Rights Commission, including its chairman, as a core group to function as the human rights commission in the state. The need for the eight Northeastern states to have a common set of members was considered as an alternate arrangements for the region, in view of the financial constraints and logistical problems being faced by some of the states, particularly the smaller ones, in setting up separate human rights commission. The commission evidently had to come up with this suggestion, as its previous suggestions that the Northeastern states have a common human rights commission, evoked lukewarm response from the member states in the region. The latest recommendations are part of the NHRC's annual report for the 1997-98, tabled in the Parliament last week. The Commission is aware of the logistical and financial problems of the state government. The chairman of the Commission, therefore, wrote to the chief ministers suggesting that the setting up of separate Commission for each state, having a core group comprising chairman and the judicial members of the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC), who would act as members of the state commissions in each of the other states, along with one human rights activists nominated by the state. Such an arrangement would need a statutory amendment to the composition of the state commission, enabling the state, whenever it decides, to have only a three-member commission and for the chairman and the members to be part of more than one commission. As an alternate model, the Commission had also pointed out that there could get a common commission for the states of the region. The response of the states were, however, mixed, with Meghalaya chief minister responding favourably to the suggestion of constitution of a common human rights body, while Assam and Nagaland governments agreed to consider the suggestion. Mizoram government on the other hand turned down the idea, stating that it was not necessary for the state to have a commission, as there had not been 'a single case' of human rights violation. In view of the development, the NHRC has recommended that the state governments of the North East, in consultations with the Union government , work out a framework for the state commission in the region, keeping in view the resources constraints faced by them, the report said. Significantly, cases of custodial deaths in several of the Northeastern states including Assam have recorded an increase. The number of custodial deaths in Assam, for instance, recorded an increase from 25 in 1996-97 to 34 in 1997-98. Significantly, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur are among handful of states which have not favoured the decision of the NHRC to allow members of the Commission give surprise visits to police lock-ups. The Commission disturbed by reports of violence in police lock-ups, decided to make surprise visits to police stations. Twenty-six states have since accepted the suggestions, while the three Northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Daman and Diu are yet to respond positively to the suggestion, the report said. The commission recommends that they accept this recommendation speedily and affirm their interest in the proper management of police lock-ups. (Staff Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 13 March, 2000)

SIPAJHAR, March 12: Keeping in mind the protection of bio-diversity, the Building Centre, an NGO of Bangalagarh in Darrang district has adopted measures to protect ecological balance through its efforts to popularise micro-concrete roofing tiles and stabilised mud blocks (bricks) using in construction of low cost houses. Puspa Dutta, project manager of the Centre has informed that the construction of such type of houses would contribute towards the protection of ecological balances as those would be constructed without using timbers, so as to that no necessity would arise in cutting of trees on this occasion. The houses constructed by using Centre's scientific technologies also possess heat proof quality and its cost of construction is also lower than other Assam-type houses. Dutta also pointed out that plans are also afoot in popularising the use of smokeless sulha made by the Centre. It is more economical than traditional sulhas as it does not require too much use of woods as fuel. It is also hygienic. The cost of the sulha is only Rs 485. He also said that this type of roofing tiles can be more useful in riverine and flood-affected areas as those can be easily removed. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 13 March, 2000)

NEW DELHI, March 13: It has the distinction of being the largest inhabited river island in the world. It is also known for its approximately 600-year-old Vaishnavite tradition which has given the 80-km-long Majuli island numerous satras - monasteries which serve not only as religious but as art and cultural centres too. Blessed as it may seem, the island, located in the upper reaches of the mighty Brahmaputra in Assam, has a serious problem at hand. While the river may be life-giving, it is also responsible for causing flooding of the island and severe erosion of its banks. Concerned about the threat posed to the island's existence, the Union ministry of water resources has now drawn up a project to protect it from erosion. It has sanctioned a Rs 250-crore grant to the Brahmaputra Board for undertaking work to protect the island, spread over a 875 sq km area. While there has been steady erosion of the island over the years, it has been worse in the past few years, largely because of heavy deforestation in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh. According to the 1991 census, the island had 244 villages. Over the years, 35 have been washed away owing to flooding. Inundation not only damages the crops of the islanders for whom agriculture is the main form of subsistence but also affects their movement when the river is in a spate. In fact, so serious is the problem posed by inundation that even after the water recedes, stagnant pools hamper mobility. A ministry report estimates the total affected area to be 18.2 sq km. Under the Union ministry's project, there are plans to build anti-erosion structures on the island's southern banks since it is the worst-affected. Construction of embankments along certain stretches of the river is also on the anvil. And since the island is not connected by road at present, the project aims to do this as well so that it facilitates the movement of construction material which shall be needed for providing flood control measures. (Parul Chandra; The Times of India; New Delhi; 13 March, 2000)

AGARTALA, March 14: Tripura will soon get its first all-women police station as part of the Left Front government's fight against crimes committed on women. The station, the first of its kind in the Northeast will start functioning in the capital within two months, K T D Singh, director-general of police, told UNI here on Tuesday. It will have jurisdiction over the entire West Tripura district. All district headquarters will get a station each later. The government is expected to give its formal approval soon, Singh said. The state has over 150 women in its police force. chief minister Manik Sarkar, who holds the Home portfolio, told the just-concluded session of the state assembly that between January 1998 and March 1999, the state witnessed as many as 201 incidents of assaults on women and 103 rapes. Four hundred and six of the total 579 accused were arrested. The number of rapes during the past four years was 424. Singh said special training would be imparted to women police personnel who would be posted in the all-women stations. All 44 police stations in the state are to be revamped and modernised under an ambitious scheme assisted by the Union home ministry. All stations will have their own intelligence officers and the special branch and intelligence bureau network will also be strengthened, a senior police official said. Police personnel will be given sophisticated arms and ammunition, including AK series rifles, faster vehicles, modern wireless sets and bullet proof jackets. (United News of India; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 15 March, 2000)

GUWAHATI, March 14: An wild elephant, which was injured by the people about a month back, was rendered medical help by a team of veterinary doctors of the state forest department at Tengani North Nambar Reserve Forest of Golaghat forest division on Sunday. The elephant, a male, measuring about 11 feet, 4 inches in height and about 50 years old sustained injuries in both of its right legs when local peasants of the area in their bid to drive away the pachyderm from their fields threw some sharp weapons at it. A team of forest officials led by Golaghat DFO F Rahman used tranquiliser guns to capture it. The bid to capture the animal started in the early morning on Sunday and finally the surgical operation on the animal was over around 4 pm. Kheria from the Kaziranga National Park and Durga Charan Deka from the state Zoo administered 30 ml of long-active antibiotic, 20ml of pain killer, 30 ml of vitamin injections in the animal's body and applied two tubes of ointment, each containing 20 ml, to its wounds. The wounded legs of the animal were also bandaged. The second round of medical treatment will be given to the animal with medicated bananas after 96 days, said DFO Rahman. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 15 March, 2000)

GUWAHATI, March 15: Less than 5 per cent of the total archaeological sites of the Northeastern region have been so far studied. This was disclosed by Prof Abdullah Ashraf Ali of the department of anthropology, Gauhati University. This was notwithstanding the fact that the Northeastern region is one of the richest and most potential archaeological sites in the world, he pointed out. He also termed the region as the 'paradise' where ancient items, including tools and relics, are in abundant from which a major research work may be made to trace the inextricable links between Northeast with that of the South East Asian region. According to Ali, "There is a basic similarities between the pre-historical items found in the Northeast region with that of the items found in the South East Asia. Again, such items found in the region are quite uncommon to the other parts of India." To him, the most potential archaeological sites in Northeast region are in east Garo Hills, west Garo Hills, Arunachal Pradesh, foothills of east Khasi Hills, west Khasi Hills, NC Hills and some places near Barapani and Rani. So far tools like hand axe, short axe, cleaver, point, grounded tools, lancet, chipped and ground shoulder sheet, wedge, dao, jali, etc., have been excavated from these sites which throw light on the lower, middle and upper Paleolithic Age, besides Neolithic and Mesolithic periods. Ali recently led a team of university students to west Garo Hills for research works which, in association with the Meghalaya Arts and Culture Department, discovered some pre-historical tools and implements numbering 50 in all . "Some fragments of the tools have been brought here which are now undergoing laboratory tests to find more informations," he stated. Ali, however, reveals that no evidence of agriculture has been found in this strategic part of the country. "So far, no direct evidence of agriculture during the pre-historical period has been found in any of the parts of the region. Although, we've indirect evidences of hand axe, grounded hand axe, constripted axe/hoe etc., but we can't reach to any final conclusion basing on these typical tools, as possibilities are that these had been used for purposes other than agriculture," he said and added that the region doesn't permit to preserve any sort of organic material due to humid climate and other natural factors. "Again, due to soil erosion and heavy precipitation of rainfall in the region, tools most often get exposed to them which becomes difficult to make study on them to trace out their origin." About the recent discovery of fossils of dinosaurs in west Khasi Hills by the Geological Survey of India, Prof Ali feels that it may not be unusual to get more such startling items from the region. "The only thing that is needed is more and more excavation works." (Imran Hussain Laskar; The Northeast Daily; Guwahati; 16 March, 2000)

TEZPUR, March 15: Nameri, the third National Park of Assam with 212 sq km area and situated in Sonitpur district of Assam adjoining Pakhui sanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh has been finally declared as Tiger Reserve by the Union government after Manas and Kaziranga National Park, said SP Bashishth, DFO. Talking to this correspondent, official sources said that in 1997, 29 tigers were counted in the park and are hopeful that the population of the tiger will increase. Among other animals, it has a base for sambar, barking deer, hog, wild boar, bison etc and about 800 domestic cattles, besides 225 elephants were counted in 1997. Sources further said of the total of 750 white winged wood ducks in the world, one of the endangered species, 50 white winged wood ducks were detected and adds that altogether 310 varieties of birds were found in Nameri. Apart from that, Nameri is a safe home for the butterflies, Indian baison, horn bills, Himalayan black bears and other birds and animals including flora and fauna. Later talking about the Manas National Park and Kaziranga National Park sources said tiger population has crossed 90 in Manas and in Kaziranga it has gone up to 80 as compared to 73 found during the 1993 census. The 2,832 sq km Manas Wildlife sanctuary, one of the largest of its kind in India was registered under "Tiger Project" in 1973 when in 1972 the sanctuary revealed the presence of only 31 tigers. In the year 1979, tiger population in Manas increased to 69 and in 1989 it touched a record high of 92. However subsequently the tiger population decreased in the park due to the Bodo crisis which seriously affected the flora and fauna. During the 1995 census in Manas 80 tigers including 29 males, 44 females and seven cubs were counted. In 1993 presence of 81 tigers was recorded, the sources said adding that there is a good scope for increase of tiger population in Manas as tiger poaching is not prevalent unlike the rhinos. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 16 March, 2000)

KACHUGAON, March 15: Defying the Supreme Court ban, some unscrupulous timber traders have started destroying forest area in Kachugaon and its adjacent areas on the Indo-Bhutan border. This has been causing tremendous environment-related problems to the rare animals in this region. Animals like the world famous golden langur found in this forest have been declining in number gradually, due to lack of a suitable atmosphere. There was a time when such animals were frequently seen moving freely, crossing the road while one travelled on the NH 31(C). The local people have been gracious to them. But since 1996, the inmates from nearby relief camps have been brutally killing such animals just to satisfy their hunger. Some rare species like leopards, deer and monkey are no more found here. Perhaps, due to shortage of food and seeking better adjustment, these animals have started shifting to the thick jungles of Bhutan. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; 16 March, 2000)