Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya facing maximum deforestation
AIZAWL, June 6: Braving the rains, hundreds of school students in the Mizoram state capital participated in an awareness rally in the city to mark the World Environment Day yesterday.
The rally was organized by Green Mizoram Network, under the sponsorship of the state Environment and Forests department and Public Health Engineering department.
The rally, which aims to stimulate environment awareness and enhance political attention and public action for environmental conservation, started from Chanmari junction and was crowned with a musical event at the Millennium Centre, in the heart of the city.
Every year the World Environment Day's message in Mizoram puts emphasis on the seriousness of rapid depletion of the green forests in Mizoram mainly due to the age-old jhumming system of cultivation.
''Mizoram, once covered by green forests and watered by several perennial rivers and streams which boasts of such a rich diversity of wildlife and plants, has now deteriorated due to large scale jhumming, reckless exploitation of forests and rivers in the guise of the so called development,'' the MPBC said in its message to the people of Mizoram.
''We have been negligent of the degradation our environment caused by our own hands,'' the message read.
''It is high time we do something to rectify the mistakes we have made in the past and reclaim our green gold,'' the MPCB said.
Mizoram Environment Minister H Rohluna said, ''The theme echoes the urgent call to conserve the diversity of life on our planet. A world without biodiversity is a very bleak prospect. Millions of people and millions of species all share the same planet, and only together can we enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
''On this World Environment Day, let us resolve to do much more and much faster to win the race against extinction,'' the minister said in his message.
In Mizoram, the slash-and-burn method, on which about 80 per cent of the state's farmers still depend, has resulted in vast areas of green forest going up in flames annually.
According to the state environment and forests department, at least 17046.33 hectares of green forest were lost to jhumfires during this year's jhum burning season starting from early February till March end.
According to a recent survey by the Mizoram remote sensing application centre, there are only 3158.57 sq km of dense forests in Mizoram which is not yet touched (cultivated). This accounts for 14.98 per cent of the total Mizoram area. The forest area which is exploited for road constructions, building houses and other sources accounted for 147.85 sq km which is 0.70 per cent of the total land area of the state.
The survey also reported that while there are 2628.08 sq km medium dense forests (12.46 per cent of total land area) and 3738.57 sq km less-dense forest (17.73 per cent of the total land area), 31.81 per cent of the total land area is covered by bamboo which is 6708.37 sq km.
Of the seven states in the NE region, Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya are facing maximum deforestation. A recent survey showed that 6.3 million hectares area in north-eastern region is affected of which four states - Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh - account for about 72 per cent.
Out of the 64 per cent forest cover in the region, 35 per cent cover is good (dense) and the remaining 29 per cent comprises post-jhum open/degraded secondary successional forests which require protection. (Agencies)
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