Tea board initiatives yield quality fruit, says Bhanu |
Initiatives taken by the Tea Board of India to improve the quality of Indian tea have borne fruit, as not a single consignment of tea has been returned citing poor quality in the past year.
The outgoing chairman of the Tea Board of India M.G.V.K. Bhanu told The Telegraph that many initiatives were taken to improve the quality of tea during his tenure in the past two years.
Bhanu will hand over charge as chairman on December 26 in Calcutta and return to work for the Assam government.
Two tea councils have been set up, one for South India and one for the north, in order to monitor the quality of tea meant for export and for imported teas meant for re-export.
“This initiative has helped improve the quality image of Indian tea abroad and it is worthwhile to note that during the last one year, not a single consignment of tea has been returned due to poor quality” Bhanu said.
Earlier, buyers had raised concerns regarding the quality of Indian tea and consignments had been rejected because of this.
The setting up of a separate directorate to look after the needs of small tea growers, which now account for more than 35 per cent of the country’s production, was also an important initiative.
A separate cadre of engineering graduates has been deployed as factory advisory officers to render technical guidance to tea factories and help them adopt good manufacturing practices.
A sustainable development programme — Trustea, which aims to assure the consumer that what he is drinking is a safe cup of tea — was also launched this year.
On his two-year tenure, Bhanu said he had delivered whatever he had committed at the time of joining the Tea Board. “It is particularly satisfying to me that I have been able to set in motion several activities aimed at improving the overall quality image of Indian tea both in the country and in the international market,” he said.
On the future of the tea industry, which has a steady demand for natural healthy beverage the world over, he said it would grow from strength to strength. Bhanu said production this year in India is expected to touch an all-time high of 1,180 million kg — an increase of 200 million kg since last year.
“This 200 million kg increase was not entirely owing to favourable climatic conditions. It was also due to better collection and collation of production data by activating field officers of the board. Also, this significant rise in production has not adversely impacted tea prices in the domestic market, which would indicate that domestic consumption is on the rise. But the actual domestic demand needs to be assessed properly to keep the demand and supply in fine balance,” he said.
In five to seven years, small tea growers will contribute around 50 per cent of India’s total tea production but this does not mean that this sector is going to be a competitor against the organised sector, Bhanu said.
“On the other hand, both the sectors stand to benefit through a symbiotic relationship,” he added.
On the problem of maximum residue level (MRL) where importing countries have their own standards, he hoped that some unanimity regarding uniform standards would be reached among the consuming countries in the near future. Bhanu said the auction system is being fine-tuned to make it user-friendly and attract more buyers to participate in the system.
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No indian tea consignment rejected in past one year due to poor quality
Two cheers for Pakke tiger reserve in Artunachal Pradesh: melanistic golden cat and chinese pangolin found
Guwahati, Dec. 22: Two records — the spotting of melanistic golden cats and a Chinese pangolin during camera-trapping exercise — have brought cheer to the 862 square km Pakke tiger reserve in Arunachal Pradesh.
Six tigers comprising three males and three females were also spotted apart from leopard, clouded leopard, wild dog, Asiatic black bear and others.
The camera-trapping, which helped determine the minimum number of tigers in the sampled area within the reserve, was conducted from December 2012 to January 2013 in two ranges — Seijosa and Tipi — of the tiger reserve.
The exercise was conducted as part of the phase-IV monitoring of tiger and prey population under Project Tiger in collaboration with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Arunachal forest department and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - India . Fifty-seven locations were chosen for deployment of cameras.
The NTCA, in its report, said, “For the first time in Pakke tiger reserve. four melanistic golden cats (Pardofelis temminckii) were photo-captured during the camera-trap season and there was a first photographic record of the Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) too.”
The report said besides tigers, other co-predators and prey species were also spotted during the survey, implying that despite the low-density area in terms of wildlife, there is a good assemblage of carnivores as well as herbivores in the tiger reserve.
“The reserve, which is considered one of the global bio-diversity hotspots, is rich in wildlife and if all the areas were surveyed properly, there could be more such first-time records,” Tana Tapi, divisional forest officer of Pakke tiger reserve, told The Telegraph.
The Pakke reserve is bounded by a contiguous forest of Nameri tiger reserve in the south, Kameng river in the north and west, and Pakke river in the east.
The reserve has a great diversity of mammalian faunas with at least 40 species recorded. It is also rich in avifauna with 294 species.
The NTCA said as Pakke tiger reserve is adjacent to Nameri tiger reserve in Assam, joint monitoring work needs to be done for this tiger landscape.
“This will help us understand the true dispersal and survival of individuals within the population, which is essentially the same but managed by different administrations. This will also help in planning management strategies and will have important conservation implications for tigers as well as other wildlife that exists in this landscape,” it said.
The NTCA has said monitoring of prey species for tigers and other large predators should be continued on an annual basis to understand whether prey populations are in the process of recovery, have stabilised or reached carrying capacity. Development activities, poaching and indiscriminate felling of tress leading to habitat loss are some of the prominent threats to Pakke tiger reserve, sources said.
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Arunachal pradesh tea fetches Rs 73,000 a kg of tea at auction
Wagh Bakri pays Rs 40 lakh to buy tea at auction in Guwahati | ||
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | ||
A tippy golden flowery orange pekoe — an orthodox variety grade tea from a garden in Arunachal Pradesh — fetched Rs 73,000 a kg at the grand charity auction held today.
Wagh Bakri — India’s third largest tea packet company, bought the tea.
Sources said the company has spent Rs 28 lakh to buy 38kg of the tea. The company had spent around Rs 40 lakh to buy tea at the auction.
The Rs 700-crore Gujarat-based company, which sources 30 million kg of Assam tea, controls a 15 per cent share of the country’s 360 million kg packet tea market.
The top two packet tea companies in the country are Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Tata Tea.
Wagh Bakri markets 35 million kg, of which 30 million kg is Assam tea, 4 million kg from Dooars and 1 million kg from South India
Of the Assam tea segment, 12 million kg is procured from gardens and 18 million kg through auction, of which 8 million kg is from the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre.
“Assam tea will always have its own place as it is known for its body,” Piyush Desai, the chairman of Wagh Bakri Tea Group, said today.
The tea belongs to Mouling Tea Processors, a company registered under the Tea Board and situated in Upper Siang district.
Though the first session had already netted Rs 86 lakh, tremendous activity was seen in the last session and with chief minister Tarun Gogoi in the chair, inspiration soon followed.
As the last lot — number 11 — came up for sale, it was known that there was going to be surprises and the buyers bid higher.
And when the deal was settled at Rs 73,000 a kg, a hush descended on the audience. The session was conducted by actor Victor Banerjee and director J. Thomas Ravi Suchanti.
Not only from the tea world, there were guests from the fashion world and wildlife world, too. From the wildlife sector was conservationist Prerna Singh Bindra and from the fashion world was Zoya Afroz — Femina Miss India 2013.
The auctioneer for the last lot of tea was Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi who hit the hammer when the tea was sold finally for Rs 73,000, bringing cheers from the audience.
Altogether, 26,667 kg of tea was auctioned today at two venues in the city — at GTAC and at ITA Pragjyoti auditorium.
A sum of Rs 1.83 crore was collected from the special charity auction and the money will go to three organisations working in the disability sector.
The three organisations, which will benefit from the proceeds of the auction, are Moran Blind School, and Vaani and Shishu Sarothi, both NGOs.
A number of important personalities of the tea world, including Jaffer Ali, the first man to buy tea from the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre, were present on the occasion.
The first lot at GTAC was auctioned on September 25, 1970 and was auctioned at a price of Rs 42.50 per kg (considered to be fabulous during those days) and knocked down the hammer to a local trader from Jorhat, Jaffar Ali of Diamond Tea Co.
Jaffer, with a never-say-die spirit surprised many by buying tea at Rs 2,500 per kg in the second session, which was greeted by a big applause from the audience.
Retired Supreme Court Judge S.N. Phukan, who owns Bahoni tea estate — the first garden to send tea to GTAC in 1970 — asked planters to send more teas to the GTAC.
“The gesture shown by the buyers for participating in today’s special auction meant for the disabled, was tremendous,” Kamal Das, a senior official of Paramount Tea Marketing (P) Ltd, told The Telegraph.
The first session saw brisk buying from the tea buyers who relished the manual outcry system.
In fact they were bidding with great energy knowing that the cause is equally great.
In the first session, Assam industries minister Pradyut Bordoloi became an auctioneer and enjoyed the brief changeover from a politician to an auctioneer.
The auction saw good participation from all from the organised tea sector. The bought-leaf factories, too, have sent tea. Apart from CTC tea, orthodox tea was also offered.
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Business and generosity at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre charity auction.
Helping hand stirs GTAC cup of tea | |
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | |
It is going to be business, emotional connect and joining hands for a cause on Tuesday at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC).
The grand charity tea auction, organised by the GTAC and partnered by The Telegraph, and held to support three organisations working in the disability sector on World Disability Day will also be an emotional occasion for the GTAC to connect with people who started the centre in 1970, braving opposition and surmounting problems.
The three organisations which will benefit from the proceeds of the auction are Moran Blind School, and Vaani and Shishu Sarothi, both NGOs.
“It is an important day for us as we will work towards restoring the brand equity of GTAC and showing our solidarity for a social cause. We are calling all those who were connected with the first sale in GTAC in September 1970. A lot of effort has gone into starting the centre which had faced a lot of opposition,” industries and commerce minister Pradyut Bordoloi told The Telegraph.
A total of 26,667kg tea will be auctioned at two venues in the city — GTAC and Indian Tea Association, Pragjyoti auditorium at Machkhowa — to raise funds for the cause of disability.
“The cause is good and buyers will like to associate their name with it. They will not be miserly and would pay good price,” Nirav Patel, a tea buyer for a major tea packet firm of the country, told this correspondent. Top people in the tea industry apart from buyers from Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur and Calcutta will take part in the event.
Sources said teas could fetch anything between Rs 75 lakh and Rs 1 crore.
The first venue is the GTAC where 23,235kg will be auctioned in 96 lots in the morning. In the evening, the auction will be held at Indian Tea Association, Pragjyoti auditorium, Machkhowa, which will be attended by chief minister Tarun Gogoi. In this session, 3,432kg tea will be auctioned.
Apart from the organised tea sector, bought-leaf factories, too, have sent tea. Two gardens from Arunachal Pradesh are also participating in the auction. Among the top companies, McLeod Russel is offering 1,505kg while Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd is giving 304kg. Apart from CTC (crush, tear and curl) tea, different grades of orthodox tea are also on offer.
In fact, the highest amount of tea being offered by a single garden is Segunbari Tea Company Ltd of Margherita. The company is offering 1,228 kg of broken pekoe grade.
“I had earlier sent only a few packages, but later increased it substantially when I came to know about the cause,” Gautam Beria of Segunbari Tea Company Ltd said. “There has been so much of criticism of the tea sector and I think this is the best platform from where we can say that we also care for society,” he said.
“By organising this auction for the benefit of civil society organisations working for the disabled, GTAC has once again re-affirmed its commitment to social responsibility,” Arman Ali, executive director of Shishu Sarothi, said. Brinda Crishna, managing trustee of Vaani, said: “ The biggest advantage will be creation of awareness on disability. A new section of people will be knowing about it,” she added.
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India's third biggest tea packeteer eyes Assam tea gardens
Wagh Bakri eyes Assam gardens | ||
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | ||
The third biggest packet tea company in the country, Wagh Bakri, which has so far procured and packaged tea for sale the world over, is now eyeing the source — it wants to buy gardens in Assam.
“We are working on the proposal and will place it before the board for its approval. In the first phase, we may go for three to five gardens having a production of 1 to 1.5 million kg. Proposals are also welcome from owners of medium/small gardens. This will be a win-win situation for both as there will be equity partnership between the producers and our company Gujarat Tea Processors and Packers Limited,” Piyush Desai, chairman of Wagh Bakri Tea Group, told The Telegraph.
“Wagh Bakri is a brand of very good quality tea and as such should have control over kitchens,” he added.
Explaining the decision, Desai said: “Despite our repeated requests, producers have not increased production of organic tea or organic green tea for which consumer market is increasing by more than 25 per cent every year.”
The Rs 700-crore Gujarat-based company, which sources 30 million kg of Assam tea, controls a 15 per cent share of the country’s 360 million kg packet tea market. The top two packet tea companies in the country are Hindustan Unilever Limited and Tata Tea. Desai, who will attend the special tea charity auction to be held here on December 3, supported industries minister Pradyut Bordoloi’s insistence on Assam tea producers giving tea for sale at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre as their first preference.
He suggested full subsidy for tea growers putting up more than 50 per cent of their produce at the GTAC. If the offering is less than 50 per cent, the subsidy should be reduced accordingly. Desai has also been supporting duty-free import of tea. “Of course, any government should take care of the industry by providing protection but it should also maintain a fair pressure by gradually allowing duty free import of tea. This will compel producers to maintain good standards of tea, resulting in good quality tea available to the packet companies who are competing with coffee,” he said.
“Indian tea production is unlikely to show any significant increase but our domestic consumption is growing by three to five per cent per annum. This means that in the next five years we will be a net importer of teas even if we do not export any tea, which is unlikely and neither should that happen,” he added.
On the increased role of small tea growers, who are now producing 225 million kg annually, which is 25 per cent of tea production, Desai said if this sector grows systematically it will be a blessing to the tea industry as its growth rate is faster than that of big tea growers. “But if they grow in a haphazard manner and produce weak quality tea, it will be a big threat to the tea industry,” he said.
• Packet tea market growing 10% annually, loose tea market losing 10%
• Packet tea market comprises 14 major players and 100 regional brands, selling 1 million kg tea annually
• Wagh Bakri markets 35 million kg, of which 30 million kg is Assam tea, 4 million kg from Dooars and 1million kg from South India
• Of the Assam tea segment, 12 million kg is procured from gardens and 18 million kg through auction, of which 8 million kg is from the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre
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Municipal authority from Guwahati becomes the first in East India to get ISO 9001 tag
Efficiency tag for GMDA- Civic body gets ISO 9001 certificate | ||
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | ||
The Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), which has often drawn criticism from the city’s residents, has quietly walked away with the coveted ISO 9001 certificate — the gold standard in administrative efficiency.
In fact, GMDA has become the first municipal authority in eastern India to get ISO 9001:2008 standard certification. The certificate was issued on October 31.
“It is basically an effort to streamline the operating procedures of the office and tone up officials of the authority to ensure efficient and prompt citizen-centric services. It took almost one-and-a-half years to upgrade office infrastructure and bridge the various gaps and carry out a quality management drive to enable the officials of the authority to handle their various tasks in a better and smarter way,” GMDA’s chief executive officer M. Angamuthu told The Telegraph.
Angamuthu, an IAS officer, is also credited with getting the deputy commissioner’s offices of Karbi Anglong and Nagaon ISO 9001 certified.
“To the best of my knowledge, GMDA is the sole municipal authority in eastern India to get ISO certification,” Rupam Baruah general manager (east) of Bureau Veritas, which awards ISO certificates, told The Telegraph.
The eastern regional office of Bureau Veritas looks after 13 states, including those in the Northeast.
The certificate is valid till October 31, 2016, and was provided for enforcement and execution of master plan, formulation and execution of schemes for planned development of Guwahati metropolitan area as well as regulation and control of development through regulatory measures.
Baruah said the process was started almost six months ago. The GMDA engaged the National Productivity Council as the process consultant to implement the requirements of ISO 9001:2008. A number of workshops were conducted for the implementation team.
“As a certifying body, we verify the adequacy of documented quality management systems and procedures in reference to the requirements of ISO 9001. Then we conduct a certification audit — which generally focuses on implementing status with reference to the documented system. Then, legal requirements are verified in what we call a compliance audit. After every stage, we issue audit reports and the client has to provide a corrective action report,” Baruah said.
The certificate is valid for a period of three years and every year there will be a surveillance audit to verify the sustenance of management systems and serious non-compliance to requirements may lead to suspension of the certificate.
A GMDA official said the authority now has departmental operating procedures in place to deliver quality services to citizens and meet the mandatory requirements stipulated by the Assam Right to Public Services Act.
“A computerised monitoring unit has been set up to monitor the process and disposal of various public proposals, seeking of NOCs for buildings and land transfers. Very soon, a fully computerised system for scrutiny and processing of various building construction proposals will also be put in place,” the official said.
Thanks to the improvements, the GMDA office, which looked neglected before, has undergone a transformation with state-of-the-art work stations, conference hall, visitors lounge, Wi-Fi facility and a fully digitised records room.
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Manas national park now has muga silk connection!
Manas haven for muga |
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI |
The muga silkworms that give Assam its famous golden thread now have a sanctuary on the fringes of Manas National Park.
A senior official of Central Silk Board said the move aimed at conserving the germplasm of muga silkworm as its habitats were fast eroding because of rapid deforestation for agriculture and human habitation.
The initiative is a collaboration of Central Silk Board and the department of sericulture, Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). Altogether 100 acres of land have been demarcated in the Rangijora area of Kuklung forest range in Chirang district in Manas National Park.
The sanctuary was inaugurated on June 5 in the presence of Deven Boro, executive member, department of sericulture, BTC, Prafulla Kumar Hazowary, secretary, BTC, Kokrajhar, and Sarat Deori, joint secretary, Central Silk Board, ministry of textiles, among others.
“Being a single species silkworm, rearing of the stock in the same place for more than three to four generations shows an inherent tendency of inbreeding depression as indicated by the loss of its tolerance capacity to environmental variations. The germplasm is also fast depleting due to unabated deforestation and human intervention. To check further erosion of the valuable genetic resource of muga silkworm, there is an urgent need for conservation of muga in its wild habitat and to establish a sanctuary to conserve this valuable resource in its natural habitat,” Deori toldThe Telegraph here.
Another problem is that muga silkworm had always been grown outdoors and is prone to die in large numbers because of factors like global warming, climate fluctuations and pollution besides predators and diseases.
Muga, the golden yellow silk, is obtained from semi-domesticated silkworm, Antheraea assamensis. Earlier, several attempts were made by the line departments to conserve muga silkworms in the wild by demarcating a specific reserve forest as wildlife sanctuary. The attempts, however, failed because of administrative reasons.
The sanctuary has been set up in the BTC area, as it is an important seed pocket of muga and contributes about 30 per cent to the state’s silk output. Weaving is an integral part of Bodo culture and many families rear their own silkworms, the cocoons of which are spun into silk. Bodo girls learn to weave from a young age and no Bodo courtyard is complete without a loom.
“The present local (semi-domestic) stock is less tolerant to environmental factors causing diseases. For revitalisation of the existing stock, evolution of a variety or developing a vigorous breed is required for which exploitation of the genetic resource in the wild is required,” a scientist at Central Silk Board said.
Of the total Assam silk production of 2,019 metric tonnes in 2011-12, the production of muga was 115 metric tonnes. Muga provides self-employment to more than 44,000 families, including ancillary units, in the state. “It is an excellent initiative for conservation of muga germplasm and the area is suitable,” the divisional forest officer of Chirang, Suvasish Das, said.
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MoEF asks Assam on Army presence in Sonai Rupai wildlife sanctuary
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Arunachal's Dibang valley gets butterfly to its name
Butterfly named Dibang, 26 years later- London-based naturalist discovered species in 1987, Internet to the rescue | ||
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | ||
Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh has got a butterfly species —Callerebia dibangensis — to its name, 26 years after it was found there.
Purnendu Roy, a London-based naturalist, had discovered the species in 1987 in the Upper Dibang Valley on the footpath from Anini to Mipi but did not have the means to identify it. “When I first found the species, there was no Internet and it was hard to identify the species. There were not many field guides to help us either. Very few species were well illustrated and nearly all my identification work done through descriptions. The fact that I could not identify all the species I discovered was not very surprising,” Roy told The Telegraph.
“The Internet and digital photography has created a resurgence in interest in Indian butterfly species and people can freely exchange information, share photographs and most importantly network with their peers. It was through the web that I became aware of the work of Titli Trust in the Northeast. Sanjay Sondhi, a trustee of the organisation, helped me in revisiting Arunachal Pradesh in 2012. This led me to go back to my old specimens and discover the butterfly,” he said.
Roy has a particular interest in the butterflies of Eastern Himalayas and is working as a volunteer with Ifoundbutterflies.org, a peer-reviewed online resource devoted to Indian butterflies. He said David Lees of the Natural History Museum in London compared the butterfly with specimens in the museum collection and asked him to describe it.
“The process involved determining all the possible species and separating it from them. The genus Callerebia has some species that are difficult to separate but this particular species is one of the most visually distinctive. It is one of the largest Callerebia, with very rounded wings. The background colour is quite uniform compared to some other species in the genus. The white lines on the hind wing contrast with the background colour in a very striking manner. The eyespot on the hind wing is very prominent, while the forewing eyespot is very large and clearly defined. These features make it visually very beautiful,” he added.
The finding has been reported in the current issue of the Journal of Threatened Taxa.
Roy hopes the species has a local name. “The Mishmi weaving is renowned for its extremely intricate designs and butterflies such as the Northern Jungle Queen are thought to be the inspiration for some designs.” He said the discovery of a new butterfly species has become a rare event. “It highlights the biodiversity in Arunachal Pradesh and the potential for many more new species of flora and fauna to be discovered.”
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Problems galore in Manas national park
Encroachment on rise in Manas- After rampant poaching, the national park faces another problem | ||
Manas National Park, which has already lost five rhinos since 2011 to poachers, is now facing a fresh wave of encroachment.
Sources said the encroachment was taking place at the Bhuyanpara range of the park and had increased over the past few months.
Till last year it was restricted to 4 square km area of the park but since July this year, the intensity has increased and a new area of 3 square km was cleared for cultivation.
“The fact is that the tall Terai grassland of Manas, which is the lifeline of endemic and endangered species like pygmy hog, Bengal florican and hispid hare, has been lost because of this. The productive grassland supports a flourishing population of Asian elephants, tigers and the growing population of one-horned rhinos,” a source said.
He said though the encroachment is for agriculture, the situation, if not controlled now, will take a serious turn and negate all the hard work for conservation.
“In fact, a rhino calf was born in one of the places which is now encroached. The authorities are aware of the matter but they have not acted on it. This way, entire Manas will be lost,” Ajoy Kherkatary of Manas Bhuyanpara Conservation Society, an NGO, said.
“A number of forces — the presence of militants and others — are at play in Manas which is making it extremely difficult to control,” a forest official said.
The alleged involvement of a conservation volunteer in rhino poaching in the park recently had made matters worse and the exit of WWF from the park because of deteriorating law and order situation is another of the many concerns, he added.
The World Heritage Committee early this year had said rhino poaching has been identified as a serious conservation threat at several World Heritage properties. It said the killing of the four translocated rhinos in Manas National Park has endangered the re-establishment of the species at this site.
The Centre through the state forest department will have to submit to the World Heritage Centre an updated report on the state of conservation of the property, including a report on the progress achieved in addressing the issue of funds release and the implementation of the other recommendations made by the committee at its 35th session (Unesco, 2011), by February 2014.
The other range in Manas — Panbari with an area of 16.3 square km — has already witnessed rampant encroachment with 912 people occupying the area. Though Rs 6.46 crore was sanctioned in 2009-2010 by the authorities to relocate these people on the fringes of the core area of the tiger reserve, nothing has happened till now.
“People are not willing to move out of Panbari range as they have settled here for many years. They want land and not money. The government would have to take a tough stand to oust them,” an official of Panbari range said.
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India look to Bhutan for help in wildlife trade
NTCA looks to Bhutan for help- Tiger parts recovered from Gelephu; 2 Indians held & punished | ||
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | ||
The National Tiger Conservation Authority, which is investigating the case of a tiger skin seizure in Bhutan last month, has asked the neighbouring country for a clear photograph of the tiger skin and the statements of the culprits arrested.
A delayed report reaching here said two Indian nationals were arrested by the Forest Protection and Surveillance Unit, Bhutan, at Gelephu on September 20 with tiger skin and bones.
“One tiger skin was seized in Bhutan and two Indians were arrested and penalised,” a source in the NTCA said, adding that they had requested for the photographs and statements before taking action.
A report prepared by M. Firoz Ahmed of Aaranyak, Jimmy Borah of WWF India’s tiger conservation programme and Yeshi Wangdi of Royal Manas National Park, Bhutan, on Identification of a tiger skin recovered at Gelephu town by authorities of Royal Manas National Park, Bhutan, says the tiger, the skin of which is in the custody of Bhutan, was first photo-captured in that country on November 18, 2010 and last at Bansbari range of Manas National Park in India on November 27, 2012.
The report was shared with the NTCA and submitted to the department of forest and park services, ministry of agriculture, Bhutan, early this month.
“The individual (tiger) was photo-captured multiple times on both sides of the border, indicating that it was actively using the area,” the report says. Since Manas National Park and Royal Manas National Park are contiguous, tigers move from one park to the other.
This tiger was also described in the report, Tigers Across Borders, brought out in 2012 by the forest departments of both the countries with assistance from conservation organisations of both the countries.
The combined database of the tigers in Manas landscape is possible because of the joint collaboration of Aaranyak, WWF India, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment and the Bodoland Territorial Council in India, and the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment, Bhutan Foundation and the department of forest and park services in the neighbouring country.
Sources said the NTCA wanted to send a team from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of India to crack the network but the Bhutan government had declined, saying it had made thorough investigations and penalised the offenders under its Forest and Nature Conservation Act, 1995 and Rules, 2006.
It said it would liase with relevant agencies and seek the support of its counterparts across the border as and when needed to enforce the act and curb wildlife crime.
The report says the tigers of Manas National Park have been vulnerable to poaching and calls for joint initiatives like patrolling, sharing of information about illegal activities, for more effective conservation efforts. “We also suggest that the joint monitoring across the borders should continue to generate important information on tigers as well as other wildlife species,” it says.
Top officials of both the countries had met on February 20 this year to discuss joint conservation efforts.
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NTCA concern over rhino poaching in Manas India
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Wildlife takes precedence over roads in protected areas of India
Curbs on roads in protected areas | |
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | |
Guwahati, Nov. 13: Road developers will now have to think twice before constructing or upgrading roads passing through protected areas in the country.
A sub-committee — constituted by the ministry of environment and forests to draft guidelines for roads in protected areas — has recommended that the foremost option would be to altogether avoid areas that are within or near any protected area and to find alternatives that are socially and ecologically more appropriate.
The committee has said that existing roads can be maintained and repaired in their current form and width but no widening or upgrading will be allowed.
On roads being managed by the forest department for the purpose of patrolling and tourism, it said no new roads should be constructed. If new roads must be built, then prior approval of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (in case of tiger reserves) must be obtained.
Thanks to sub-committee’s recommendations, conversion of the two-lane Harangajao-Udarband-Silchar section of NH-54 — that falls under the East-West Corridor project — into a four-lane road is likely to be hit. The proposal involves diversion of 24.1268 hectares of forest land from Borail wildlife sanctuary for upgrading the road section.
“If this happens, it will be a big national loss,” a NHAI official looking after the Silchar road section told The Telegraph. The East-West Corridor project is already getting delayed.
The sub-committee had met a number of times and submitted their report to the wildlife board that has now made its decision public (see chart).
The sub-committee has decided to adopt the guidelines in its present form and requested the chief wildlife wardens of different states to submit their comments, if any, on the guidelines to the ministry within a month so that necessary amendments can be made.
“Roads fragment an already highly fragmented habitat. Protected areas cover barely five per cent of India, and are already heavily fragmented by roads, canals and railway lines. Effective protection would barely cover two per cent of land in India. These are the last refuges of endangered and, in some cases, endemic species. We have to take a call: and I believe that at least in protected areas wildlife must get priority,” Prerna Bindra, member of the National Board for Wildlife, told The Telegraph. Former chief wildlife warden of Assam, Suresh Chand, who was present in the meeting, said a view needs to be taken in case of roads which were existent even before the sanctuary was notified and suggested that the guidelines should take this into consideration.
M.K. Ranjitsinh from the National Board for Wildlife was also present at the meeting where he quoted the example of the road that passes through Kaziranga National Park today. He said many animals, including rhinos, are killed on that road each year.
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Dabur on sourcing drive in Northeast India
Dabur packs hot & sweet basket | ||
| Searchlight | ||
| The fourth largest FMCG company in the country is planning to source honey and chilli from the Northeast for its packaged food products | ||
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | ||
Guwahati, Aug. 11: Dabur India Limited is expanding its sourcing basket from the Northeast and has plans to procure honey and chilli from the region.
“We are actively exploring expanding our sourcing basket from the Northeast. Some of the raw materials being assessed from the region include honey and chilli,” Dabur India head-sourcing Somit Mukherjee told The Telegraph.
Dabur’s FMCG portfolio today includes five flagship brands. While Dabur is the master brand for natural healthcare products, Vatika stands for personal care, Hajmola for digestives, Réal for fruit juices and beverages and Fem for fairness bleaches and skincare products.
The company is the largest player in the branded honey market, commanding over 75 per cent of the total share. The honey is currently sourced selectively from the Himalayas, the Nilgiris and the Sunderbans.
Mukherjee said the company sourced an assortment of herbs and spices directly and indirectly from the Northeast. In addition to some key herbs used in its Ayurvedic preparations, some key raw materials largely sourced from states of the region, including Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, include ginger, cinnamon, large cardamom and bay leaf.
The company’s executive director, sales, George Angelo, said the region was also a key market for some of Dabur’s beauty care and packaged fruit juice products.
“The key categories that are showing strong growth for Dabur in the region are personal care, beauty care, Réal packaged juices and Hajmola digestives. The consumers in the Northeast are highly evolved and their awareness levels on beauty care solutions in particular are high. Even when it comes to packaged juices under the brand Réal, the Northeast market has been driving demand for more exotic variants like plum and apricot juices as compared to the regular variants,” Angelo said.
He said while demand for exotic fruit juices and natural beauty care products had been growing at a steady pace in the region, distribution and last mile availability was always a challenge.
Dabur has addressed this distribution challenge through its Project Double that seeks to significantly enhance the company’s distribution footprint across India.
“Assam has been included as a focus state in this initiative, wherein we have doubled our direct distribution coverage in the key states to ensure higher penetration and last mile availability of products. Besides, trade promotions are being customised and focused servicing offered through a dedicated sales team in these markets,” Angelo said.
According to Spices Board, the Northeast has tremendous potential for largescale production of spices and it is anticipated that the region can create exportable surplus at competitive prices, ensuring that the country stays on top in the international spice market.
The board has proposed an outlay of Rs 66.75 crore in the Twelfth Plan focussing on development of large cardamom and other spices with respect to area expansion, irrigation and land development, mechanisation, organic farming and post-harvest processing.
In the Northeast, Nagaland honey is doing exceptionally well and has been certified organic. The state has already set a target to produce 2,000 metric tonnes of the product by 2020.
“Our production has been steadily increasing and we have set a target of producing 2,000 metric tonnes by 2020. The target looks stiff but we will try all our best to achieve it,” an official of the Nagaland Beekeeping and Honey Mission recently said.
The state is the first in the country to have a honey mission and has been taking a number of initiatives to promote the natural sweetener.
When it comes to the region’s chillies, Guinness World Records declared bhut jolokia as the world’s hottest chilli in 2007, bringing the Northeast produce into global focus.
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Years of education help create hiss-tory
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | ||
The birth of 32 pythons over a three-day hatching spell was a sight wildlife staff and researchers at the Laokhowa-Burhachapori wildlife sanctuary in Nagaon district would never forget.
But this instance of perfect conservation dynamics was no coincidence; it was the culmination of years of efforts to educate people, especially those residing in villages on the fringes of protected areas, about the need to protect and conserve wildlife.
The clock started ticking on June 16, when a 15-foot female python laid 38 eggs in the backyard of primary schoolteacher Kartik Sarkar’s house in Haribhanga Beelpar village on the fringe of Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary. Sarkar immediately informed the forest staff of the Gorajan range of the sanctuary.
The forest staff and a research team belonging to the Laokhowa Burhachapori Wildlife Conservation Society, an NGO, received total cooperation from the villagers as they began the process of relocating the python and her eggs. While the mother was released into the wild in Burhachapori wildlife sanctuary, the eggs were kept in a controlled environment in the sanctuary and monitored continuously by the research team.
The eggs started hatching three days ago. Today, 32 newborn pythons were released in a suitable habitat inside the sanctuary.
“Since pythons do not incubate their eggs, we were confident most of the eggs would eventually hatch provided these were closely monitored and protected from their natural predators. Usually, most eggs end up being eaten by monitor lizards, civet cats and mongoose, among others,” said Prasanta Bordoloi who was part of the research team along with Samarjit Ojah.
Though the Burmese rock python is widely found in the Northeast, the success of this effort was proof that awareness is the key to wildlife conservation.
“Such dynamics are very rare. The rescue of the python and the successful hatching of such a large number of eggs and their release in the natural habitat need to be cheered. Laokhowa and Burhachapori wildlife sanctuaries are ideal for undertaking such research and documentation. The Nagaon wildlife division and the society thank the fringe villagers for informing us about the snake and its eggs and for their active cooperation in the rescue operation,” said P. Sivakumar, divisional forest officer of the Nagaon wildlife division, which administers the Laokhowa and Burhachapori wildlife sanctuaries.
“The role played by the villagers in informing the forest staff is commendable. This was possible only because of increased awareness,” said Firoz Ahmed, a wildlife biologist with Aaranyak.
“Such positive cooperation from fringe village residents are critical for wildlife conservation in Assam,” Sivakumar added.
Sometime back, based on information provided by the villagers, a binturong, a rare and critically endangered species, was rescued from a village on the fringe of Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary. It was treated for minor injuries at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation, Kaziranga, and later released back in the wild.
Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary, with an area of 70.1 square km, is situated on the south bank of the Brahmaputra. It was declared a reserve forest in 1907 and upgraded to a wildlife sanctuary in 1979. Burachapori wildlife sanctuary is just north of Laokhowa. It was declared a reserve forest in 1974 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1995 and is spread over 44.06 square km. Both sanctuaries are part of the Kaziranga-Orang riverine landscape, which has been identified as a major gateway for straying animals within the protected areas of central Assam.
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From Australia and world over, best wishes for Pakke tiger reserve strike force
ROOPAK GOSWAMI | ||
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It will be a moment to treasure for the 40 members of the Pakke tiger reserve strike force on Monday when they get thank you cards from across the world in recognition of their impeccable wildlife protection record.
They received the third highest number of messages in the world, preceded only by a tiger reserve in Indonesia and Kanha in India. After all, theirs is a record that is not easy to beat — keeping the reserve free of poachers since the force’s inception in 2008.
Each card, received from various corners of the globe as part of WWF-India’s Cards4tigers campaign (panda.org/cards4tigers), is a pat on the back for each of these ex-armymen and local youths who have kept poachers at bay since they stepped out into the jungle five years ago.
In a postcard from New Zealand, Liam O’ Connor said, “I think you are doing a wonderful job in trying to stop poaching.”
In another from Australia, Nyla and Vernon Vaz said, “Thank you for protecting our forests, our wildlife and especially our tigers from poachers and from all other threats and dangers they face.”
The event is the Global Tiger Day that is observed annually on July 29 to raise awareness about and support for conservation of wild tigers. Several countries, including India, Bhutan, China, Nepal and the UK, are observing the day with various activities.
WWF-India is holding five events simultaneously in four tiger landscapes to honour forest guards as well as to raise awareness regarding the challenging work they do for tiger conservation. All events are being held jointly with the forest departments concerned.
In Arunachal Pradesh, parliamentary secretary (department of science and technology) N. Rebia, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) N.N. Zhasa and Pakke tiger reserve divisional forest officer Tana Tapi will attend the event. Students will present the postcards received from around the world to the strike force members.
The venue for the two-day programme will be the V.K.V. Boys School at Seijosa near the reserve. On July 28, various competitions, including skit, painting and story writing, have been planned involving students from four schools near Pakke. The prizes will be awarded the same day.
“We intend to bring young students and the hard-working strike force on one platform so that they can exchange knowledge. The students will also become aware about the efforts being made to protect the very important wildlife reserves,” Pallavi Chakraborty, project officer (species) WWF-India, North Bank Landscape Programme, Tezpur, told The Telegraph.
Pakke wildlife sanctuary is located in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh and continues south, connecting to Nameri tiger reserve in Assam. It was declared a tiger reserve in 2002 by National Tiger Conservation Authority of India and is the 26th tiger reserve in the country. Six individual tigers were camera-trapped in the reserve during a recent monitoring exercise conducted by the forest department and WWF-India.
Development activities, poaching and indiscriminate illegal logging, leading to habitat loss, are some of its most prominent threats. But the forest personnel have never let these factors harm wildlife in the reserve.
“A ‘strike force’ comprising former army personnel and local youth, well versed in guerrilla warfare and having extensive knowledge of jungle craft, had been set up as a quick action team. They have done a good job of protecting the reserve. Most importantly, there has been no poaching incident in the reserve in the past five years,” Tapi said.
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Transmission line in Northeast India going through gibbon habitat
Gibbons on power tightrope- Arunachal okays transmission line through crucial habitat | ||
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI | ||
A proposed high tension transmission line is posing a threat to the habitat of the eastern hoolock gibbon, a “vulnerable” species according to the IUCN Red List, in Arunachal Pradesh, with environment activists asking the government to keep the animals in mind while clearing development projects.
Arunachal Pradesh power minister Tanga Byaling, however, told The Telegraph: “They won’t be affected if the line passes through.”
The project in question is a Power Grid Corporation transmission line that will cut through the habitat of the primarily arboreal (tree-dwelling) species found in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit, Dibang Valley and Changlang districts and Sadiya sub-division of Assam’s Tinsukia district.
The corporation has sought approval for diversion of 108.937 hectares in favour of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for laying a single circuit 132KV transmission line from Roing to Tezu in Lower Dibang Valley and Lohit districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
The proposal envisages establishment of a power transmission network system associated with the gas-based power projects, being implemented by the ONGC and Tripura Power Company Limited for uninterrupted distribution of power among the constituent states of the Northeast. The proposed line will pass through three reserve forests.
The forest advisory committee under the ministry of environment and forests is scheduled to discuss the project in New Delhi tomorrow.
The estimated population of the eastern hoolock gibbon in the forest stretch between Roing and Tezu is around 1,000 — around 30 per cent of the state’s total population of 3,500.
Two species of hoolock gibbons, the western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) and the eastern hoolock gibbon (Hoolock leuconedyes) are found in the Northeast. With long and slender arms, gibbons are swift — they can swing from tree to tree at speeds up to 55km per hour, covering up to 6 metres in just one swing.
Of the two, the western hoolock is listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List, while the eastern hoolock is listed as vulnerable.
Dilip Chetry, programme head, primate research and conservation initiative of Aaranyak — a biodiversity conservation society of the Northeast — said, “There are scientific papers stating that the said area is a habitat of the eastern hoolock gibbon. Any development project in that area should be taken up keeping the hoolock gibbon in mind.”
Sources said habitat fragmentation and hunting were the major threats to gibbons in the country and added to this situation was the lack of basic information and poor conservation awareness about the species among different sections of people, including the frontline forest department staff.
“The project, if it gets cleared, will fragment the habitat of eastern hoolock gibbon, which will be dangerous,” said a senior official of the Wildlife Trust of India, which is working on gibbon conservation at Dello, 20km from Roing.
According to sources, the state government has forwarded the proposal without any specific recommendations, stating that the assessment officer had not given any adverse comment on the matter. It said the project would not affect any stream, sea, waterbody or forest eco-system and the bio-diversity of the area.
The government said no unique eco-system was reported to exist on the land being diverted in both Lohit and Namsai forest divisions.
Interestingly, even the state forest department stated in its site inspection report that the area proposed for the transmission line was not significantly important from a wildlife point of view.
Justifying the proposal, the state government said the transmission line would serve as a stable and reliable source of power for the remote districts of Arunachal Pradesh, which have a sizable population. These areas are currently facing power scarcity, which is coming in the way of development and progress.
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Muga silk has a sanctuary now too...
Manas haven for muga |
| ROOPAK GOSWAMI |
The muga silkworms that give Assam its famous golden thread now have a sanctuary on the fringes of Manas National Park.
A senior official of Central Silk Board said the move aimed at conserving the germplasm of muga silkworm as its habitats were fast eroding because of rapid deforestation for agriculture and human habitation.
The initiative is a collaboration of Central Silk Board and the department of sericulture, Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). Altogether 100 acres of land have been demarcated in the Rangijora area of Kuklung forest range in Chirang district in Manas National Park.
The sanctuary was inaugurated on June 5 in the presence of Deven Boro, executive member, department of sericulture, BTC, Prafulla Kumar Hazowary, secretary, BTC, Kokrajhar, and Sarat Deori, joint secretary, Central Silk Board, ministry of textiles, among others.
“Being a single species silkworm, rearing of the stock in the same place for more than three to four generations shows an inherent tendency of inbreeding depression as indicated by the loss of its tolerance capacity to environmental variations. The germplasm is also fast depleting due to unabated deforestation and human intervention. To check further erosion of the valuable genetic resource of muga silkworm, there is an urgent need for conservation of muga in its wild habitat and to establish a sanctuary to conserve this valuable resource in its natural habitat,” Deori toldThe Telegraph here.
Another problem is that muga silkworm had always been grown outdoors and is prone to die in large numbers because of factors like global warming, climate fluctuations and pollution besides predators and diseases.
Muga, the golden yellow silk, is obtained from semi-domesticated silkworm, Antheraea assamensis. Earlier, several attempts were made by the line departments to conserve muga silkworms in the wild by demarcating a specific reserve forest as wildlife sanctuary. The attempts, however, failed because of administrative reasons.
The sanctuary has been set up in the BTC area, as it is an important seed pocket of muga and contributes about 30 per cent to the state’s silk output. Weaving is an integral part of Bodo culture and many families rear their own silkworms, the cocoons of which are spun into silk. Bodo girls learn to weave from a young age and no Bodo courtyard is complete without a loom.
“The present local (semi-domestic) stock is less tolerant to environmental factors causing diseases. For revitalisation of the existing stock, evolution of a variety or developing a vigorous breed is required for which exploitation of the genetic resource in the wild is required,” a scientist at Central Silk Board said.
Of the total Assam silk production of 2,019 metric tonnes in 2011-12, the production of muga was 115 metric tonnes. Muga provides self-employment to more than 44,000 families, including ancillary units, in the state. “It is an excellent initiative for conservation of muga germplasm and the area is suitable,” the divisional forest officer of Chirang, Suvasish Das, said.
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