The Manas National Park in Assam is bearing the brunt of insurgency once again. The park, which was thrown open for tourists in November last year for the 2014-2015 tourists season, had been closed down by the local administration last month, particularly after the Army and security forces launched an operation against the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in and around the National park that also borders Bhutan.
“The park has a contiguous landscape with the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan and thus it shares international border. We had to close the park after December 25 last year as the security forces had intensified its operation along the Indo-Bhutan border,” said a park official. “We had to evacuate the tourists inside the park after December 25. It remained closed from December 25. This has impacted negatively on the park and it will take us to the days in 1990s. This will not only hamper the conservation activities in the park but also obstruct its growth as a tourist destination,” the official said.
The recent counter-insurgency operation came in the wake of the NDFB faction’s series of attack on innocent civilians in three districts of Assam-Kokrajhar, Sonitour and Chirang districts-that left 81 people dead and over two lakhs homeless. The Army and paramilitary forces had intensified operation particularly along the Indo-Bhutan border in Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) and along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border against the NDFB faction.
The park covering an area of 950 square/ kms was declared a World Heritage site in December 1985 by UNESCO. The park, however, bore the brunt of Bodo militancy since the 1990s, which also wiped the park of almost all its wildlife including the famous one-horned rhinos. Heavy poaching and terrorist activities marked this period and the park had lost all the rhino population during the 1990s. This led the UNESCO to declare the park as a World Heritage Site in Danger.
It is only in June 2011, that the International body removed the name of Manas National Park from the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger and was commended for its efforts in preservation. The Assam government had translocated 22 one-horned rhinos from the Kaziranga national park and Pobitora wildlife sanctuary to the Manas national park since 2008 and this also helped the park regained its World Heritage Site status. While there are about 20 one-horned rhinos in the park at present, the Assam forest department had recently relocated 19 Eastern swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii ranjitsinhi) to add to its attraction. Popularly known as Barasingha, the entire population of this sub species of Eastern Swamp Deer is currently found only in Kaziranga.