Burning Environmental

Issues of Assam or
North-East
Presented by
Mrs. Manisha Chaliha (M.A.)
Deptt. Of Education
D.R. College; Golaghat
Content of the Seminar
 Introduction.
 Background of NE region.
 Environmental Issues.
 Hazards from pollution.
 Conclusion.
 References.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Introduction
 “Environment” is derived from the word
“Environner” which means to “encircle or
surround”.
 Thus, environment is seen total of water, air
& land, inter-relationships among
themselves & also the human beings, other
living organisms & property.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Background of NE region
 The 7 states of NE region supports all sorts of natural
diversities, the NE supports people and economics from
primitive to modern.

 While the traditional, “Jhumings” predominates in the

hill-slopes, the capitalist tea-plantation, modernized
grain-farming characterized plain landscapes.

 Thus ,livelihood of most of the people are directly linked

with economics & the natural resources easily available
in the region.
BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST
Environmental issues
Water resources
 Sustainable utilization of water resources shall
definitely contribute to the economy both at
regional & national level.
 The agricultural sector which is the backbone of
economy of this region suffers the most. As a
result of gross under-utilization of existing water
resources & the impact of managing flood &
erosion hazards.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Contd.
 All the hills of NE region are having very
high rainfall from 2300-5000 mm in some
areas.
 Because of heavy rainfall, recurrent
problems of flood; soil, river-bank erosion &
drainage congestion occurs.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Forest resources
 The livelihood of the people of the region greatly
depends upon forest resources. But in spite of
having a legacy of rich biodiversity & food-chain
these areas haven’t been conducive to
sustainable development.
 Therefore, a strategy of action should be taken
for their protection & production.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Pressure of population
 It concerns with the population growth,
density, occupational structures, & carrying
capacity of the area concerned.
 During the period of last 100 yrs(1901-
2001), the population of NE increased from
around 4 million to 38.5 million.
 It creates problems viz. degradation of land
& forest, Loss of biodiversity.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Contd.
 The region was known to the rest of the country
for its rich forest resources.
 So, systematic deforestation & land degradation
were outside the interest of the people.
 But in recent period, factors like population
growth, urbanization, industrialization, growing
trade & commerce, tendency for immediate
economic gain have led to a substantial decline in
the “forest cover”.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Hazards from pollution
 It causes bad effect on various forms of life or
property. We should change our life-style to
reduce pollution & should take different action
plans.
 e.g. the Deopahar reserves forest near NRL in
Golaghat district is presently ruling under
pollution due to dumping of plastic garbage. The
local conscious people have appealed to the
NRL authority to consider the problem as
burning one & to take proper measure.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Land degradation
 It means a reduction in the productive capacity of
land.
 Deforestation has mainly lead to accelerated erosion
& land sliding. The shifting cultivation is held
responsible for accelerated erosion in many parts of
N.E.
 However, the terrace cultivation has rendered the
areas less susceptible to soil erosion.
 Framing of national policies, development of wetland
inventory, monitoring, research, training, education &
public awareness help in the management of the
wetlands.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Human-animal Conflict
 It is the another burning issue because of population
growth, occupational shift, infrastructural spread,
deforestation, flood & bank erosion, application of agro-
chemicals etc.
 The loss of one-horned rhinos from Kaziranga National
Park to tune of 20 in a year 2006-07 by antisocials.
 There is some kind of competition between the people &
the wild elephant for relatively level space in many
elephant corridors. During recent years the problem of
human-elephant conflict an acute one.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

Conclusion
 All the natural resources are interlinked.
Disturbing one will affect the other. The
spread of value-education can play an
important role in bringing awareness about
the environmental issues.

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

References
 North-East India Geo-environmental Issues- Deka Sujit.
 Environmental Studies- Arumugam N., Kumaresan V.
 Environmental managements- Krishnamoorthy, Bora.
 Environment :-Problems & Solutions- Asthana D.K.,
Asthana Meera.
 Population Education for developing Countries-
Salkar R.K.
 Perspective in environmental Studies- Kaushik &
Kaushik

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST

BURNING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF ASSAM OR THE NORTH-EAST