GUWAHATI: Environmental experts have called for immediate steps for “ecosystem restoration”, which was the theme for this year’s World Environment Day celebrated on Saturday.
Guwahati city is a key example which is witnessing rapid ecosystem degradation, where surrounding hillocks with forest cover has been destroyed and altered from the original forest ecosystem.
Deepor Beel, Assam’s lone Ramsar site situated adjacent to the city, now faces sheer magnitude of the challenges due to the human interventions.
In the past 20 years, Guwahati lost key wetlands like part of Silsako Beel, part of Deepor Beel and Sola Beel in Paltan Bazar almost gone.
“It is time to reverse this negative trend by taking proactive steps to revive natural forest and wetland ecosystems in and around Guwahati to reduce future ecological catastrophe.
I encourage the new chief minister of Assam to take the lead on this issue to ensure better human well-being for people living in Guwahati,” said Dr Bibhab Talukdar, who heads the green NGO Aaranyak.
The blowout in Baghjan village last year had a significant negative impact on the ecosystem and the experts have continued to warn against human interventions in the environmentally sensitive areas and asked authorities to remain alert so that such incidents don’t happen again.
“We have evolved from nature and is our only sustenance, giving us oxygen to survive.
It’s our bounden duty to protect the ecosystem for our own survival.
It’s time to restore the eco-system and to give nature what we have derived from it.
Otherwise, our very existence will be at stake,” said state environment and forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya on the occasion of World Environment Day.