41

CHAPTER II

Status of Environment of India's North East

North East India located in the extreme north east comer of the Indian

subcontinent is endowed with rich and varied biophysical environment bounded by hills

and mountains on its three sides except a narrow gap in the west. The density of the

population is 151 persons69 per sq. km. The region extends between 22° to 29°30' N

latitude and 80° 41' to 97°25' E longitude. Thus it is placed in the tropical and subtropical

belt of the world. Its spatial distance from the mainland, poor communication,

infrastructure facilities, vast mountaneous terrain, dense forests, heavy rainfall, wetlands,

frequent floods and cold climate of high altitude region have conveyed a sense of

remoteness and isolation of the North East. Hence considerable part of North East India

has been perceived to have remained in a relatively pristine state i.e., untouched,

unharrased, unaltered, unmodified and unpolluted by man and his activities. Serene and

enchanting natural scenes of lofty snow clad Himalayan peaks, densely forested hills,

valleys and plains, colourful orchids, flowers, butterflies, birds and other wildlife, crystal

clear waters of rivers, lakes and waterfalls and life infusing fresh fragrant air are still

present to cool the eyes and delight the soul, mind and heart of a nature lover.

The geological structure of the region varies in age. The precambian

metamorphosed and crystalline rocks are in Meghalaya-Mikir Plateau and Rengma hills.

The tertiary, old sedimentary and granitic rocks are in the young folded mountains. The

Pleistocene and recent unconsolidated sediment deposites are in the river valleys of the

Brahmaputra, Barak and Imphal particularly and along the courses of other river in

general. Besides oil and gas, important minerals found in the region include coal, uranium,

sillimanite, limestone fireclay, fullers earth, feldsper, quartz, marble and base metals.

Seismologically North East India has been characterized as a weak zone.

The prominent physical features of North East India are ridges (hills and

mountains) and furrows (valleys). Most imposing of these are almost east west running

three parallel landforms out of which two are ridges formed by the mighty Himalaya in the

69 See Basic Statistics of North Eastern Region, 2002

42

north and Meghalaya Mikir plataue in the south and the third is the rammed Brahmaputra

valley. All three are lying as sandwich in which the Meghalaya and Mikir plataue have

pressed the shape and orientation of the remaining two. Zahid Hussain 70 has divided the

region into following four main physiographic units which are actually north eastem

extension of the major physiographic division of the Indian subcontinent.

First, the young folded mountains which spread in the north as a part of the Eastern

Himalaya. The highest peak is Kangto (7,090 m). The major divisions of the Himalaya

from Bhutan in the west to Myanmar in the east are: Kameng, Subansiri, Siang, Dibang

and Lohit. Glaciers, snowpeaks, gorges, lakes, springs, waterfalls and terraces are mainly

formed here. The eastemmost portion of the central Himalayas ends around the north

eastem syntaxial bend or orographic swerve. There is a continuous chain of almost north

south extending young folded mountain starting from the south of Lohit hills on Indo­

Myanmar border following the Patkoi Burma, Naga, Manipur and Mizo hills reaching upto

Arkanyoma in Myanmer. One of the westem offshoots of this chain is the Barail range

starting from the junction of Naga and Manipuri hills and merging with the North Cachar

hills in the west. Its maximum elevation is 2,062 m. Another offshoot is Tripura hills in the

west of Mizo hills, which have similar characteristics, but lower in height.

The second unit consists of old plateau and hills which consists of the Meghalaya

plateau, Mikir Rengma hills and North Cachar hills. While the Mikir Rengma hills are the

part of the plateau but highly dissected and isolated. The North Cachar hills are just in

continuation of the plateau region. The Barail range connects it to the Indo Burma ranges,

while low hills join it to the Rengma hills in the North through a gap near Diphu and

Jamuna rivers.

The alluvial plains and valleys which comprise the third unit include Brahmaputra

and Barak plains and higher flat intermountain valleys. The plains formed by the

Brahmaputra river system are the largest in the north east and is exclusively part of Assam.

The plains lie below 2,000m. altitude and slope from Sadia to Dhubri and maximum width

of 80 km. and it merges into the mingled delta of the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers in the

southwest of the Garo hills. The fertile alluvial soil is used for growing rice, tea, jute,

vegetables and many other crops. It is the most thickly populated area in North East India.

10 H 0 ° ussam, op.ctt

43

The Cachar plains formed by the Barak river system also have high density of

population due to the fertile land and suitability to agriculture. Such plains are also formed

in Tripura and further downstream they are called as the Surma and Sylhet plains in

Bangladesh which finally merge with the delta of the two mighty rivers of Indian

subcontinent i.e., the Ganges (Podda in Bangladesh) and Brahmaputra (Jomuna in

Bangladesh). The higher flat intermountain valleys include lmphal valley, Apatani or Kale

valley, Mechuka, Siyom, Papu, Pakke, Kaya, Y angse, Sangti, Chhug, Simsang near

Williamnagar and many smaller ones.

The drainage in the North East includes the Brahmaputra drainage system, the

Barak drainage system and others. The Brahmaputra basin represents a unique

physiographic setting Vis a Vis the eastern Himalayas, a powereful monsoon rainfall

regime under wet humid conditions, a fragile geological base and active seismicity.

Flowing eastward for 1,625 km., over the Tibetan plateau, Brahmaputra enters a deep

narrow gorge at Pe (3,500m) and continues southward across the east west trending

ranges of the Himalayas, viz. the Greater Himalayas, Middle Himalayas and sub

Himalayas before debouching into the Assam plains near Pasighat. In the course of its

2,880 km. journey, the Brahmaputra receives as many as 22 major tributaries in Tibet, 33

in India and three in Bangladesh. The northern and southern tributaries differ considerably

in their hydro geomorphological characteristics owing to different ecological,

physiographic and climatic conditions. Due to the colliding Eurasian (Chinese) and Indian

tectonic plates, the Brahmaputra valley and its adjoining hill ranges are seismically very

unstable. Excluding the Tibetan portion, the basin forms an integral part of the South East

Asian monsoon regime with a mean annual rain fall of 2, 3000 mm. The rainfall varies

from 1,200 mm in parts of Nagaland and over 6,000 mm. in the southern slopes of the

Himalaya. The hydrological regime of the river responds to the seasonal reathm of the

monsoon and freeze thaw cycle of the Himalayan snow. With an average annual discharge

of 19, 830 cumec at its mouth, the Brarnhaputra ranks fourth among the large rivers of the

world. In terms of water yield per unit discharge area, the Brahmaputra leads other major

rivers, the rate of the catchment upstream of Pandu being 0.0306 cumec /sq km. Water

yields of some of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra such as the Subansin[, Jia Bharali and

Manas river are as high as 0.076, 0.086, and 0.023 cumec /sq.km respectively surpassing

44

many of the worlds major rivers. 71 But the Brahmaputra basin, particularly in Assam has

earned notoriety for the owesome hazards of annual floods and erosion, bringing misery to

the people and shattering the fragile agro-economic base of the region.

The Barak river system: This system drains the Barak or Cachar plains and

surrounding hills. Rivers from the Meghalaya Plateau and Tripura hills also join this

network. The Barak is the second largest river system in North East India in general and

Assam in particular. The Barak rises on the southern slope of the lofty Borail range near

the border of Manipur and Nagaland and forms a part of the northern boundary of the

Manipur state with Nagaland where it is known as Kirang. From there it flows a westerly

and southerly course to Tipaimukh, where it sharply turns to the north, and for a

considerable distance, form the boundary line between Cachar district of Assam and

Manipur. Therefore, it turns westward at Jirimukh and runs through the Cachar plain

sluggishly. It bifurcates near Karimganj, into the northern branch of Kushiara. The river

with a total length of 900 km. from source to mouth drains an area of 52, 000 km. In India,

the river traverses a distance of 532 km. upto the Indo-Bangla border.

Some rivers originating in the Indian territory flow into Myanmar. The tributaries

of the Chindwin in the Patkoi, Naga and Manipur hills flow through the Imphal valley are

important ones because the Loktak Lake is connected with them. The Kaladan river rises

from the southern Mizo hills and flows towards south into Myanmer. Some rivers of

Tripura also flow southwards to reach the sea independently.

Climate:

The North East India has different types of climate ranging from hot and moist

tropical in plains and foot hills to cold and dry alpine of higher mountains due to influence

of locations, topography and altitude.

Humid and warm tropical and subtropical climate occur in the Brahmaputra and

Barak plains. Temperate climatic conditions prevail in the entire hilly region between

1,800-3,500m. altitudes. Alpine type of climate is experienced above 3,500m.in the

71 Goswami, D.C and Das, Partha "The Brahmaputra River, India" The Ecologist Asia. 2003, Vol.ll No.1

January-March.

45

Himalaya. The highest annual rainfall of about 1,300 ems is received in Mawsynram­

Chrrapunjee area. The next heavy rainfall zone of 300-400 ems is on the lower slopes of

the Himalaya in the hairpin bend at the head of the Brahmaputra valley, and also on

windward slopes of Mizo hills and Cachar plains. In Manipur, south western Naga and

Mishmi hills, Barail range and Tripura plains annual rainfall is below 200 ems. Rest of the

area including the Brahmaputra plains, western and northern slopes of Meghalaya and

Mizo hills receive between 200- 300 ems of rain annually.

In the plains, temperature is high between 35°C to 40°C during summer months.

In the lower valleys of hilly area summer temperature also reaches near to this. Where as in

higher altitudes temperatuire seldom rises above 25°C in the summers. Winter temperature

in the plains is 12° to 15°C while in hills it goes below Zero.

An important characteristic of the climate of this region 1s flow of strong

southwestern winds in summer causing damage to houses and standing crops. Chilly

northern winds sometimes set in during winters.

Owing to certain biophysical factors the soils of the region are of different types.

Alluvium is spread over the plains of the Brahmaputra, Barak, Imphal valley and narrow

ribbon of flat lands of hill rivers and streams. In the in situ soils, brown to reddish sandy

loam soils are commonly found on the hill slopes of the entire region. Lateritic soils occur

in Meghalaya Plateau, Mikir Rengma hills and Manipur hills. Due to heavy rainfall the hill

soils are acidic and rich in phosphate, Potash and Calcium. Soils under the densely forested

areas have thick layer of Humus, thus very fertile in the beginning, but exhaust rapidly

after two to three years of cultivation.

Flora and fauna

North east India has one of the richest and varied flora and fauna of the world.

Tropical and subtropical evergreen, semi ever green and deciduous types of vegetation

occur in the plains and lower altitude slopes of hills and mountains. Temperate vegetation

is generally found above 1,200 m in the Himalayan mountains, but its species occur even

at 1000 m. in Meghalaya plateau and Indo Burman ranges. The actual altitudinal boundary

between the tropical and temperate bio-climatic belt is 1800 m. Real temperate forests and

grasslands occur between 1,800 to 3,500 m in the Himalayan mountains. Above 3500

46

metre the alpine type of vegetation is found. The overall climatic conditions, relief,

topography and soil are conducive for faster and luxuriant vegetation growth and therefore,

the north east is one of the greenest parts of the world.

The region is much in news for its rich biodiversity. The region falls under the

eastern Himalayas, one of the two biodiversity hotspots of the country. Myers et al

recognize the region as part of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot, one of 25 such

hotspots in the world.72. About 8,000 species of the approximately 15,000 species of plants

of India are reported from this region. Of the 315 families reported from the entire country,

200 families occur in this region, 40 out of 64 species of Gymnosperms, 500 out of 1,072

species of Ptederidophytes, 825 out of 1, 145 species of orchids, 80 out of 90 species of

Rhodondron, 89 out of 138 species of bamboo, and 20 out of 60 species of cane, known in

this region. Arunachal Pradesh is the richest state in distribution pattern of number of

species with about 5,000 species of flowering plants followed by Meghalaya and Assam.

Degradation and major threat to the environment

In plain words environmental degradation means a qualitative decline/

impoverishment/ decrease/ devaluation I degeneration in the ecosystem potentiality/

productivity affecting habitat of man, plant and animal. The human invasion into nature to

gratify the need has led to the gradual degradation of the environment. From Chernobyl

radiation to the Gulf war oil spill; from tropical rainforest destruction to polar ozone holes;

from alar in apples to toxics in water, the earth and all its life are in trouble. Industrial

production accentuated by the global reproduction of population, has put stress on nature's

capacity for the reproduction of life. 73 While the country and the world are going through

an environmental crisis, the North East India, though seems to lack any threat, a close look

would reveal that the region too has not been spared the experience of environmental

problems. The major threats are observed in the destruction of tropical rainforest, dying of

wetlands, shrinkage of biodiversity cover, soil erosion and air and water pollution

72 Myers eta!., 2000 73

Merchant, Radical Ecology, p 170.

47

Destruction of forest and shrinkage of genetic resources:

Depleting forest cover is yet another environmental problem of North East India.

While the region continues to be perceived by outsiders as full of greenery and thick forest

cover, a look into the forest statistics talks about a dismal reality about the region.

An analysis of the status of forests and change of forest cover in the region

reported in Forest Survey oflndia (FSI) report, shows that in comparison to the other states

of the country the region records a loss of 783 sq. km.of forest cover in the year 1995,

where as the states of the rest of the country record a gain of 276 sq.km.altogether. The

region also records loss of forest cover in the FSI report of 1997 and 1999 which is 316

sq.km.in case of former and 216 sq.km.in case of later.

While the region is harboured with tropical forest and rain forest, the bio-diversity

of the region are in great threat. A number of species are becoming extinct day by day.

According to State of Forest report of 1999, the percentage of actual forest cover to

geographical area in North East India is 56.93 percent against 65.3 percent reported in

official documents (see tab1el). In terms of percentage the actual forest cover is 8.38

percent higher than officially reported figures. This is true of all the hilly states of the north

eastern region. In Assam and Tripura the officially reported forest cover is highe:r than the

actual forest cover. The reason for actual forest cover being higher or lower than the

officially recorded forests is that in the hilly areas of the region which are inhabited by the

different tribal communities, the forests are owned by the village communities,, religious

groups, individuals (private) and forest departments, a substantial portion of the forests not

owned by the state government has not been included in the official statistics.

48

Table: 1

Geographic Area, Recorded Forest and Actual Forest Cover of N.E. Region (in

Sq.Km

S.No. State Geographic Recorded Forest Actual Forest

area Cover

Area Percent Area Percent

1 Arunachal 83,743 51,540 61.54 68,847 82.21

Pradesh

2 Assam 78,438 30,708 39.15 23,688 30.20

3 Manipur 22,327 15,154 67.87 17,348 77.87

4 Meghalaya 22,429 9,496 42.34 15,633 69.70

5 Mizoram 21,081 15,935 75.59 18,338 86.99

6 Nagaland 16,579 8,629 52.04 14,164 85.43

7 Tripura 10,468 6,292 60.01 5,745 54.79

8 All India 3,287,263 765,253 23.28 637,293 19.39

Source: Basic Statistics of North Eastern Region, 2002, NEC, Shillong

Soil Erosion

Though geomorphological erosiOn on the surface of the earth has been

continuously taking place since time immemorial. The soil erosion that is taking place

today is an abnormal and undesirable process caused by human activities and subject to his

control. Unchecked erosion is already exhibiting chains of undesirable natural calamities

and if allowed to continue, the end result may be more deleterious than expected.

Problem of soil erosion and land degradation in the northeast India is widely

visible both in the valleys and in the hills. After the great earth quake that visited the

region in 1958, the frequency and intensity of siltation and floods have taken a new

dimension due to the disturbance and imbalance caused to the river courses and

49

surrounding land mass. Soil erosion, silt deposition and rising of the river beds level have

also been accleterated due to the changes taking place in the hills. Increase in population

growth and its ever rising demand for basic necessities for survival as well as for other

comforts of life necessitated expansion of jhum lands in the hills. Besides settled

agriculture in the valleys, industrial growth, road construction, mining, urbanization etc,

added to the problem. The decreasing jhum cycles, land slides, the hill features have

started to take a new and unaesthetic and ecologically unfriendly look.

The significance of soil erosion and resultant siltation in the river beds is

manifold. There is a vertical and a horizontal increase in river beds and increasing

frequency and intensity of floods is the perennial problems of plains of north east.

There is a marked deterioration in the water quality, increase in turbidity or

opacity, reduction in plant life at the bottom, qualitative changes in the physico chemical

environment of the water, disturbance in the benthic environment of the river, disturbance

in spawning I breeding areas of aquatic fauna and so on. Hence there is an overall

depletion in the quantity and quality of aquatic life. It has been seen that before 1950, the

rate of siltation was very rapid and it has been observed that within a few years, the river

bed rose by three metres in several areas. The situation has been aggravated due to further

cutting of trees in the catchment areas resulting into washing away of the soil to the

Brahmaputra river.

Water Pollution

Water like air, is an indispensable and most precious natural resources on this

planet. Though there is plenty of water, the quality of drinking water is deteriorating day

by day. Especially in north eastern region, the number of water supply devices in

comparison to population is insufficient. The refineries, petrochemical industries,

sugarmills, paper mills, are causing water pollution in the region. The Digboi refinery has

been discharging its effluents without any treatment in the nearby rivers, thus polluting the

biggest water sources of North East Region. The Noonmati Refinery and Assam

Petrochemical Limited, at Namrup have been polluting many rivers which ultimately

pollute the river Brahmaputra. Following an investigation by Assam Pollution Control

Board in August 2006, it was found that the oil industries have been polluting the rivers of

50

the state and destroying the rainforests. It says Assam produces 15 percent of India's

onshore crude with state owned exploration companies, Oil India Limited and Oil and

Natural Gas Corporation Limited supplying crude oil to state-run Indian oil refineries. The

investigation found refineries were discharging bio-chemical waste such as oil and grease,

phenolic compound and sulphide into the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries, well above

permissible limits.74

The drainage of fertiliser plants at Namrup goes into the Dilli river that flows in

to Disang in Assam , which has been causing destruction to the aquatic life and fishes in

that river. The effluents of Jogigopa paper mill are directly drained to the river

Brahmaputra. Similar is the case with Cachar paper mill, the effluent of which is polluting

the river Barak and the Nagaland Paper mill discharges its effluent into Tipak Nala, which

ultimately reaches to the river Brahmaputra. The Kamrup paper mill is also continuously

polluting the river Brahmaputra. Apart from these, Spun silk mill at Jagiroad and other

industries like Indian Carbon, Assam Carbon, Bokajan Cement, Dimapur Sugar mill and

distillery situated in Bhutan are discharging their effluent in the tributaries of Brahmaputra

which has direct impact on the water pollution in North East.

According to the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board, water of the Ward's

Lake (situated in a park at the centre of Shillong town) is chemically unsuitable for human

consumption. Similarly the Umium lake is also extremely polluted. The Shillong Times in

its report in 1990 puts its water in class 'c'. The research findings of Parthasaradhi and

Alfred75 (1980) indicate that two species of fishes have vanished from the Umiam Lake

due to shrinking habitat and intensive use of lime for fishing. Gupta (1984)76and Nath

(1991)77 also confirm this fact of reduction in biotic diversity in the polluted streams.

Acid mine drainage from coal mines, besides other harmful effects, is also known

to release various heavy metals into the ecosystems. Nath 78 found that stream water in the

coal belt of Jaintia hills, Meghalaya had high levels of Irons, Manganese, Chromium and

74 ENVIS, ASSAM, ASTEC,October to December, 2006 75 Cited in Hussain, 'Deterioration of Environment ofShillong' in Hussain (ed)op. cit 76 Gupta A. 1994 'Observations on Human Interferences in some Running Water Systems ofMeghalaya' in Status of Ecology (ed), I. J. S. Jaswal, Patiwala page 68 77 See Zahir Hussain (ed), 1996. 78 Nath, H 1992, Environmental Impact of Coal Mining with Special Reference to Water pollution In Jaintia hills, Meghalaya, in A. Gupta and D.C. Dhar (eds) Environment Conservation and Wasteland

Development in Meghalaya, Meghalaya Science Society, Shillong ,pp 22-23

51

Zinc. Cement dust known to contain several metal impurities such as Copper, Cadmium

Lead and Zinc was shown to be responsible for the elevated levels of some of these metals

in the body tissues of honey produced from hives located near a cement factory at

Chherapunjee, in Meghalaya79.

Dying wetlands

The dying of wetland is a very commonly reported phenomenon in the region.

Presence of wetland is a boon to ecology of an area for it helps in the specific transfer of

energy and matter in the ecosystem through the interaction with the physical environment.

The wetlands maintain ecosystem diversity, as they are the natural storehouse of valuable

flora and fauna of an area. But the degradation and decline of the wetlands in the country

and globally is an owesome problem to the environmentalist here. The wetlands are

reported to get dried up and the water of the wetlands is getting polluted leading to the

death of the diverse biota of the wetland. N Memma Singha and Zahid Hussain in their

work "The Dying Wetland of Assam: A Case Study of Silsako- Numalijalah Wetlands of

Guwahati City' 80, discussed how wetlands are facing threat to their existence. They

discussed how the wetlands of Assam and those around Guwahati city are under threat.

Two wetlands Silsako and Numalijalah wetland around Guwahati city are reported to

suffer threat to their existence because of the encroachment by the people. It has been

reported that in 1912-13 the original total wetland area of the Silsako was 1 7. 5 84 7 ha. and

the total water spread and total wetland area have declined to 407.07 ha and 150.36 ha,

respectively. It means that 23.15 percent of the total wetland area was left. In case of

Numalijalah wetland the total wetland area and total water spread area has shrinked to

22.62 percent and 19.66 percent of the original respectively.

Towards a Sociology of Environmental Degradation in North East India

In the previous section I have tried to highlight the biophysical features and the

kind of environmental degradation that is taking place in the region. While such endeavour

might be seen to be outside the purview of the sociological literature, they have a direct

79 Gupta et al, 1993.

80 Hussain (ed), 2003, Environmental Issues of North East India,. Regency Publication.

52

bearing on the sociology of the environment. Moreover North East being rather unexplored

in this context, these added information would be helpful to have a holistic understanding

of the situation, though from the analytical point of view, these might appear to have little

value.

A sociological analysis of North East India's environmental degradation could

unravel the continuous exploitation of natural resources, which started with the penetration

of British capitalism and continued with the Independent India's growth oriented

development policies as a major cause. A peep into the history of environmental

degradation and its causes does establish the fact. The annexation of the region by the

British after the treaty of Yandaboo inl826 has led to the penetration of British in the

region and the penetration of the British was the penetration of world capitalism and thus

we can say in Beck's language, the penetration of risk81 in the region. The development of

transport and communication to facilitate the transfer of resources yet led to the

construction of roads and railways can be considered as the first attack on this undisturbed

environment of the region. The subsequent exploitative motive of the mineral resources

has led to the construction of mining industries in Assam. The exploitation of mineral

resources mainly by its unhygienic ways has opened the most vulnerable chapter of

environmental degradation. Besides the supply of timber woods for the the construction of

railways and industries to meet the fuel requirement can be mentioned as the initiation of

the exploitation of the region. According to A.C. Sinha,

With the establishment of the British Empire on the Brahmaputra valley in

1986, an element of distortion was introduced in the regional economy through

control over forest products, organized tree plantation, import of labour from

outside and introduction of cash transaction. All these lead to the insulation of the

hill communities from the plains resulting into a parasitic relationship between the

two. Consequently, while plains were impoverished because of an organized

exploitation of their land based resources, the jhum cycle of the commercial hill

81 Beck, op.cit

cultivation was shortened and even the limited forest resources were forced to be

channelised to the colonial industrial enterprises.82

53

The exploitation of resources is not only associated with the exploitative motive of

the British, it has a legacy in post colonial era too. The impact of five year planning and

focus of government of India on industrialization countrywide has left enough scope for

resource exploitation of the region. The degradation of environment due to different

industries has already been discussed in the preceding pages of this chapter.

Out of the major resources that are vital for industries, the water resources can be

worth mentioning. The region is considered to have a potential to be the future: power

house of the country. The harnessing of the hydroelectric energy from the river system has

been given highest marks for its hydroelectric potential by the October 2001 Central

Electricity Authority (CEA) (preliminary ranking study).83 The 168 schemes considered by

a ranking study have a cumulative installed capacity of 63, 328 MW and 149 of these were

given ranks A and B, indicating higher viability. These schemes were developed by

agencies such as National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and North Eastern

Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), the Brahmaputra Board and the State Electricity

Board and a major portion of this power will be evacuated to other parts of the country.

This emphasis on power generation has been anticipated to create a major environmental

havoc in the region being seismically sensitive zone. The inter linking of river for optimum

development of water resources envisaging inter basin water transfer from surplus to

deficit areas has been another exploitative measure by the government of India which has

received lot of criticisms from the environmentalists and hydrologists. The construction of

oil refinery, paper mills have also contributed to the environmental degradation.

While extraction of resources both in colonial and postcolonial periods was a major

cause of environmental degradation, there are also other causes which appear significant

for environmental degradation. The increase of population both in natural course and also

for social and political reason has affected the shifting cultivation, the lifeline of the tribal

82 Sinha, A.C op cit. p.l27. 83 Manju Menon eta! .2003, 'Large Dams in the North East: A Bright Future?' in The Ecologist Asia vol. II No 1. January-March.

54

economy in the region. The reduction of fallow period and also reduction of the size of the

holding due to increase of population has converted the traditional practice of shifting

cultivation into the most unsustainable and environmentally destructive practice. Almost

80 percent of the tribal population of North East India practice shifting cultivation and

almost four lakhs families practice shifting cultivation accounting for less than 6 percent of

the area. Annually about 1.5 percent of the area is under shifting cultivation.84 Though it

has been reported that during the nine years period (during 197 5-1984 ), the area under

shifting cultivation has been reduced by 10,556 sq km., the threat of shifting cultivation

could not be removed from the region.

Table: 3

Forest Areas Affected by Shifting Cultivation in North Eastern Region

States Geographical Area Extent of forest effected by jhum

cultivation

1975 1984

Arunachal 83,590 7,940 8, 521

Pradesh

Assam 78,520 4, 160 7,276

Manipur 22,360 17,770 13,846

Meghalaya 22,500 10,240 6, 812

Mizoram 21,090 16, 110 12,442

Nagaland 16,520 10,970 10,641

Tripura 10,490 6,220 3,315

Total 2,55,050 73, 410 (28.8) 62, 854(24.6)

Figures in bracket in last row show percentage to geographical area

Source: Forest Survey of India, The State of Forest Report, 1989, Meghalaya,

Shill on g.

84 See table no19. Shifting Cultivation in North East India, in Basic Statistics of North Eastern Region, 2002.

55

Besides, the repeated deforestation has left many areas barren and

unproductive.85In case of cultivation in hill areas, it has been seen that soil loss is more in

case of jhumming in comparison to other. See table below:

Table 5

Causes and extent of soil loss in the North East

Sources/Causes Extent of soil loss

Tons/ha/yr

First year jhum cultivation 146.6

Second year jhum cultivation 170.2

Abandoned jhum fallow 30.2

Bamboo forest 8.2

Bun method of cultivation 40.0-50.0

Slope cultivation with contour bunds 68.0

Pineaple cultivation ( 1st year) 24.0-62.6

Pineaple cultivation ( 2nd year) 6.3

Road constructions etc 67.2

Source: See Darlong and Prasad 'Soil Erosion in the North East: Past, Present

and Future, in Zahid Hussain (ed) 1996.

Though increase of population and the shifting cultivation affect environment, the

major affect on environment can be considered to take place because of exploitation of

resources by the British in colonial period and in post colonial period, because of the

growth oriented development policies adopted by the Indian Government.

85 Hussain, Z op.cit p 39