Assam might soon lose one of its most famous wetlands. The historical Maguri Motapung Beel has been suffering due to manifold problems and the silence of the authority concerned over the issue have shocked the natives, who had been working relentlessly to conserve the wetland, which is also a declared as Important Bird Area (IBA).
located about 30 kms from Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district, the Maguri Motapung Beel is one of the large wetlands of the State with an area of 1,000 hectares. lakhs of migratory birds come to the wetlands every year making it one of the most loved destinations for the birdwatchers from across the world.
The crisis started five years ago after an oil company initiated a project to set up a pipeline over the wetland. Although the locals have opposed the move of the oil company and urged the company to divert the pipeline to save the rich biodiversity of the wetland, it seems their requests have fallen in deaf ears.
“If the pipeline is operational, the 1,000 hectare wetland will lose all its charm. Already there is an oil well and the wildlife in the area particularly the birds are getting affected,” alleged the locals.
“If the pipeline is operational, any probable leakage in the pipeline would further affect the rich bio diversity of the wetland,” said Joynal Abedin, a conservator based in Tinsukia while talking to The Pioneer.
He said that According to the Environment Impact Notification 2006, there cannot be any major construction within 10 kms radius of the any biological hotspots. The pipeline project is a clear violation of the Notification issued by the Government of India.
“The wetland is also being affected by the illegal spraying of fertilisers by the neighbouring tea estates, which leads to killing of several bird species in and around the wetland,” he added.
“The wetland is under tremendous threat. While some threats are man-made, some are natural. Changing hydrology of the wetland is also a matter of concern. The evulsion of lohit and Siang rivers in 1980s had impacted on the Dibru river that flows through the wetland. The wetland had been receiving lot of silt from the lohit and Siang rivers,” said Partha J Das of the nature conservation group Aaranyak.