Majuli may be declared heritage site

By Our Special Correspondent

GUWAHATI, NOV. 17. Majuli, the biggest river island in the world and the seat of Vaishnavite culture in Assam, is likely to be recognised by the UNESCO as a World Heritage site.

The world body has approved an assistance of $ 20,000 to prepare a dossier highlighting the buildings and other property in the island.

Disclosing this at a press meet here today, Dr. Arun Sharma, Rajya Sabha member of the Asom Gana Parishad and chairman, Majuli Island Protection and Development Council (MIPADC), said the dossier would have to be submitted to the World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO by February, 2004. Preparing the dossier was the first step to a formal declaration of Majuli as a heritage site, he added.

The MIPADC proposal in this regard was forwarded to the UNESCO by the Union Forest and Environment Ministry in January, 2000.

Majuli is now facing the danger of being wiped out by the relentless erosion caused by the Brahmaputra, roughly at the rate of one sqkm a year. Its original area of 1,200 sqkm had already shrunk to 880 sqkm.

As a result, the number of `satras' (Vaishnavite monasteries) for which the island is famous for had come down from 64 to 28 in the last half a century.

The island has a rich wealth of flora and fauna and during winter plays host to about 100 species of migratory birds.

Once the island is declared a heritage site, other international agencies could come forward to save it from erosion, Dr. Sharma said.

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Section  : National
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