Workshop org. by AUS to assess the conservation and developmental needs of Barak valley and hill districts

Way2barak, March 2 : A consultative workshop was organized by Assam University, Silchar, in collaboration with G.B Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Almora, Uttarakhand, on the 1st March 2023, to assess the conservation and developmental needs of Barak valley and hill districts, namely; Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao of Assam. Various stakeholders, namely; Progressive Farmers of Cachar, State Government Agencies, Experts from renowned academic and research institutions, distinguished faculty members and research staff and scholars of Assam University, attended the workshop. The workshop was primarily aimed at identifying key gap areas for futuristic actions and sustainable interventions, to enable documentation and conservation actions for RET and endemic flora, ex-situ conservation of medicinal plants, their propagation and cultivation viz., Agar and to suggest suitable technologies for mitigation of impacts due to use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides in the region.

The programme commenced with the felicitation of the dignitaries namely, Dr. Kireet Kumar, Scientist-G and Nodal Officer, Almora, Uttarakhand and Dr R. Kaodali, Director, Ministry of Forest Environment and Climate Change, New Delhi, Prof. Rajiv Mohan Pant, Vice Chancellor, Assam University, Silchar. This was followed by a welcome address by Prof. Piyush Pandey, Dept. of Microbiology, Assam University, who extended his formal welcome to Dr. Kireet Kumar, Dr. R. Kodali, Panel of Experts namely; Prof. S.K. Barik, NEHU, Shillong, Prof. Arun Saraf, IIT-Roorkee, Sri Shailesh Panwar, Uttarakhand, Officials from various Assam State Government Agencies, Progressive farmers and other distinguished delegates. In his speech, Dr. Prodosh Kiran Nath, Registrar of Assam University, expressed his pleasure in the steps taken by Assam University to develop the Barak region. During the programme, the dignitaries released the flood relief report prepared by the Social Work department of Assam University. The inaugural session was also marked by the address from Prof. Rajiv Mohan Pant, Vice Chancellor, Assam University, Silchar, who highlighted the potential of Barak valley for development and thanked NMHS and MoEF&CC for their concern towards this region. The inaugural session ended with a vote of thanks by Dr Arun Jyoti Nath, Associate Professor, Dept. of Ecology, Assam University, Silchar.

The technical session started with a keynote presentation by Prof. Rajiv Mohan Pant, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Assam University, Silchar, who deliberated and discussed the diverse issues of rural entrepreneurship development, ecotourism and employment generation in the Barak valley and two hill districts, namely; Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao of Assam by sharing various success stories on community-based ecotourism in Meghalaya, Rural tourism in Nepal and Sikkim. He also shared the success stories on the value addition of local resources from northeast India and other parts of the country.

Finally, on project formulation and development, three thematic areas were identified on which the ministry will invite the call for research proposal. The session mainly focuses on the spring inventory and revival of different springs in the Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong districts. Biodiversity conservation and technologies for the sustainable development of the bioresources of the Barak valley were discussed. Implementing modern technologies to develop the Biodiversity Information system and data collection is also given more emphasis. The Eco-restoration of the bioresources needs a proper parameter to evaluate the status and needs the involvement of local people to be aware of the restoration of bioresources.

Dr Arun Jyoti Nath shared the success of the eco-restoration using bamboo on degraded lands. It was also discussed that the green approach in agriculture, horticulture, sericulture etc., also be an essential step in rural economic development in the business. In the concluding remarks, Prof. Rajiv Mohan Pant spoke on the drying up of springs and the need to evaluate the effectiveness of eco-restoration and deliberated on the need to develop proper human resources, which could bring transformational change. Dr Kireet Kumar expressed that projects should be oriented towards an effective outcome. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Dr.S. R Ali, Project Scientist, National Mission on Himalayan Studies.