1 bn package to save South Asia's largest river island

Majuli (Assam): The Assam government has announced a 1 billion financial package to save from extinction Majuli, the largest river island in South Asia, large swathes of which are being eroded by annual floods in the Brahmaputra.

"The financial grant would be utilised for various conservation projects, besides setting up a department called the Majuli Development Authority to help take steps aimed at saving the island from getting wiped out," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told IANS.

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Majuli, about 320 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati, has a population of about 150,000 people and once covered a prosperous 1,500 sq km that was dotted with Hindu monasteries. This was some time before India's independence in 1947.

Today Majuli is in danger - the island now reduced to just about 421.65 sq km and prone to extensive flooding and erosion, a new study by the Department of Applied Geology, Dibrugarh University, said.

"We cannot let Majuli's identity be lost and this effort would go a long way in conserving the island," said the chief minister, who visited the island Tuesday to announce the package.

According to the plans, the fund would be utilised to divert the flow of the Brahmaputra, forcing it to deposit silt around Majuli to help stop erosion.

Engineers will also raise the height and width of the mud embankments to which islanders move during high floods.

The Indian government has proposed that Unesco accord 'World Heritage Site' status to the island.

A Unesco meeting in Lithuania in July 2006 rejected the demand after the government failed to provide additional information on how Majuli could be protected from disasters like floods and erosion.

"This time we shall try to clarify all the points sought by the Unesco. Majuli deserves to be listed as a World Heritage Site for its great cultural landscape and a site of outstanding universal properties," the chief minister said.

The threat to Majuli's existence began in 1950 after a severe earthquake shifted the riverbed and caused massive silting that in turn led to heavy erosion, especially during the monsoon.

Majuli has been the cultural capital of Assam since the 16th century when social reformer Sankardeva - who preached a monotheist form of Hinduism called Vaishnavism - visited the island and established monasteries and hermitages known as 'satras'.

The monasteries apart, the island is known for its exquisite pottery made from beaten clay and burnt in driftwood-fired kilns.

Sociologists have stressed the importance of preserving this unique art form and the people of the island whose culture and dance forms are untouched by modernism.

"Being cut off from the mainland, the islanders of Majuli have been able to preserve their distinct identity and hence their uniqueness," said Annanda Hazarika, a college teacher in Majuli.
Source: IANS