Illiterate boy rescued barn owl with police help at Kalaigaon

Although there have been so many allegations against Assam police and so much hue and cry by various organisations and forest department in Assam in the matter of conservation of flora and fauna,the recent coordination between a 10 years old illiterate boy and Kalaigaon police in rescuing a rare species of barn owl at Kalaigaon has been appreciated by nature loving people of Kalaigaon. According to information,a small illiterate boy Ranjit Das (10) son of Niranjan Das of Singrimari of Kalaigaon town found a full grown barn owl near Kalaigaon HSS play ground at around 9 AM on February 2 when the helpless bird was being chased away by a flock of crows.The crows were about to kill the day blind bird,when Ranjit noticed the matter. He immediately with Kusha Narman, a class VIII student of Kalaigaon HSS informed Kalaigaon police station .Accordingly Himangshu Jyoti Gohain,SI,Kalaigaon police station with constable Milan Sarma and Chandan Debnath rescued the barn owl and handed over it to forest officials of Kalaigaon.The bird was later released at its own nest in the evening at 7 PM. The Monitoring Committee of Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary has expressed satisfaction at the timely action of the minor boys and Kalaigaon police in rescuing the rare species of the barn owl.

Army salutes peasant martyrs of Pothorughat

“Gone, but not forgotten, never shall thy memory fade. Oh, Martyrs, we salute you”, these are the words inscribed in the memorial tomb constructed in memory of the 140 peasant martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the hands of tyrant British rulers on January 28 of 1894 at the historic peasants uprising at a small village of Pothorughat, 16 km to the west from Mangaldai in Darrang district. J R Berington, officiating commandant of the military police, who ordered the firing against hundreds at Pothorughat when they protested against the British government policy of imposing exorbitant taxes.But Pothorughat residents' aspiration for giving national recognition to this event like the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on April 13, 1919, is yet to be fulfilled. Although the Pothorughat massacre occurred long before the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, it was only since 2000, the army has been paying homage to the martyrs on January 29 every year .The supreme sacrifice offered by 140 common peasants belonging to both the Hindu and Muslim community leaving aside their religion at the cruel hands of the British rulers while raising a protest that too in a non violent way is a benchmark of the history of freedom struggle of our motherland and this glorious chapter of the history of freedom struggle of our motherland should get due recognition in the national level.
This year also under the stewardship of Commander of 21 Mountain (Artillery) Brigade Brigadier VK Tiwari, 2 Field Regiment operating in Darrang district organized a sanguine ceremony to pay homage to the martyrs with full military honour on January 29. The decorated memorial witnessed a massive out pour of humanity where people cutting across all divisions assembled in silent reverence. GOC Red Horns Division, Major General Ravi Nair, while attending this pious and sacred function as the chief guest today offered floral wreath on the memorial tomb. In his speech he highlighted the importance and significance of this historic event in our lives and urged one and all to work towards the greater prosperity and progress of Assam. Significantly, later on being asked about inviting the Chief of the Staff of Indian Army next year to give it a national recognition, Maj Gen Nair talking to the mediapersons said that he would take up the matter with his senior officials to arrange for the visit of the General in near future. Maj Gen Ravi Nair in his first public function since taking over the command of Red Horns Division also got the inauguration of the Children Park constructed by the Red Horns division under Operation Sadbhavana done by a village child today.

Prominent personalities like Commander of 21 Mountain (Artillery) Brigade Brig VK Tiwari; Commanding Officer of 2 Field Regiment Col Sandip Chhikara; Commanding Officer of 315 Field Regiment Col Sunil Upadhyay; , Additional Deputy Commissioner,Udalguri Kulen Talukdar, Darrang Superintendent of Police Vivek Raj Singh, senior citizens and mediapersons attended the function and offered floral wreath on the occasion.

On this auspicious moment, the Indian Army deeply recalled veteran freedom fighter late Pani Ram Das who was always the guest of honour in the homage paying ceremony organized in the previous years since 2001. The glittering function was witnessed by a large gathering of 3,000 people from Darrang district. The efforts of the Red Horns Division to keep this yearly tradition alive with such pomp and show have been appreciated by the general public.

It needs mention that the troops of Red Horns Division at the initiative of the then Governor of Assam Lieutenant General (Retired) SK Sinha, came forward with the novel idea of construction of the memorial tomb in the year 2001. Since then the ‘Men in Olive Green’ of Red Horns Division has been celebrating the day in a befitting manner spreading the message and the meaning of the hard earned freedom. Moreover,a history of Patharughat was also authored by noted writer Arup Kumar Dutta (was released in 2010 ) with the initiative of then Darrang district deputy commissioner Dhruba Hazarika.

-Jayanta Kumar Das

Homage paid to freedom fighter Pani Ram Das at Kalaigaon

On the occasion of first death anniversary of eminent freedom fighter and social worker of the state Pani Ram Das, people paid hearty tribute to him at his residence at Kalaigaon Sevashram on November 20. On the occasion several distinguished people of the state paid floral tribute to the departed freedom fighter,who breathed his last in November 2011 at the age of 94 years. Basanta Das,Minister of State,(Ind),Fisheries and Janasanyog,Assam; Kumud Kalita,DC,Darrang;Thaneswar Malakar,DC,Udalguri; Lt.Col.Shesh Giri of 2 Field Regiment (Red Horns Division),;noted writer Dr.Amarendra Narayan Deb; members of Tangla Press Club;Kalaigaon Pres Club; Kalaigaon Press Guild;Media Circle,Mangaldai etc attended the first death anniversary to pay homage to the departed leader,known as a 'General in Khadi', arranged at Kalaigaon Sevashram.

Freedom fighter Pani Ram Das,who had passed matriculation examination from Calcutta University in 1937 securing first division with letter marks in English, decided to join freedom movement instead of joining colleges for higher education. He spent several years terms in British prison at Mangaldai, Tezpur, Jorhat and Nowgong etc. After independence he turned down the request to become an MLA and decided to do public service living in villages. He established Kalaigaon Sevashram in 1950 and was doing social service there till his death last year. He also the first journalist from Mangaldai working as the correspondents of 'The Assam Tribune' and 'Natun Asomiya'.Just before his death,he donated 56 bighas of his land at Kalaigaon for public work which included the 'Kanaklata Das Bio-Diversity Conservation Park' with an area of 35 bighas of land.

Public 'Adyashradha' ceremony of Dr.Hazarika performed at Udalguri

Udalguri district administration organized public 'Adyashradha' ceremony of music maestro Dr.Bhupen Hazarika at DC's parade ground on November 15 with day long programme.High ranking officials,leading citizens of the district,students and teachers of various schools and employees of the government offices attended the ceremony to show respect to departed soul. Kulen Talukdar,ADC,Udalguri offered floral tribute to the image of Dr. Hazarika to mark the beginning of the ceremony at 10 AM followed by Mihir Kumar Barua,ADC;MP Sarma,PD,DRDA;Binit Das,District Election Officer and Debajit Deuri,SP,Udalguri and others.This was followed by community prayer. Various Holy books were recited by -Debaraj Sapkota (Gita);Balbir Sing (Granth Sahib);Rahul Amin (Quoran);Rafael Mushahari (Bible) respectively.A few distinguished people of the district namely- Manik Sarma,President,Asom Sahitya Sabha,Udalguri;Badan Daimari,President,Bodo Sahitya Sabha,Udalguri also attended the ceremony to offer hearty respect to the departed singer.Various persons performed favorite songs of Dr.Hazarika on the occasion. Munin Sarma, a close associate of Dr.Hazarika anchored the proceeding till its end.

Ashes of music maestro Dr.Bhupen Hazarika immersed in Noa and Nanoi at Kalaigaon & Tangla

People of Kalaigaon and Tangla paid homage to the ashes of legendary singer Dr.Bhupen Hazarika before immersing in Noa and Nanoi rivers at Kalaigaon and Tangla respectively. Pranjal Das,SDO (Civil), Bhergaon Sub-division accompanied by Pabitra Kumar Das,BDO,Kalaigaon and Ratul Pathak, BDO, Bhergaon formally received the earthen pot containing ashes of the legendary singer from the Udalguri district administration at Udalguri on November 10 at 2 PM. Several hundreds of people of Kalaigaon including AASU, ABSU,AJYCP, Nagarik Manch, Chambers of Commerce, Press Club Kalaigaon etc. received the ashes at Chintagaon village at 5 PM.The ashes were then brought to Yatri Jirani Chora,in front of Kalaigaon Police Station for public view.Various organizations including ISKON (Namhatta) Kalaigaon performed Kirtan during the processeion. A homage paying ceremony was arranged on the next day at 9 AM.Distingushed peoples namely – Lwmsrao Daimari, EM, BTC;Mukunda Ram Choudhuri,MLA, Kalaigaon; Jagadish Sarkar and Dandi Ram Rabha, MCLA, BTC; Pranjal Das,SDO (Civil), Bhergaon; Pabitra Kumar Das and Ratul Pathak,BDO of Kalaigaon and Bhergaon spoke a few word after offering floral tribute to late Dr. Hazarika. Habibar Rahman,OC,Kalaigaon Police Station;social workers Kami Ram Saharia, Mahendra Saikia,Bimal Prasad Sarma,Kamal Prasad Sarma,Dandi Kumar Boro,Kandeswar Deka, Principal, Kalaigaon HSS, Arabinda Das, Principal Kalaigaon HSS etc also attended the homage paying ceremony.The ashes were later taken in a huge procession through Kalaigaon town before immersing in the Noa river at 2 PM in presence of thousands people, civil and police officials.

At Tangla: People of Tangla also offered homage to the ashes of Dr Bhupen Hazarika. DN Hazarika,Circle Officer,Harisinga Revenue Circle,Tangla formally received the ashes from Udalguri district administration at Udalguri on November 10 at 1 PM. and placed at Tangla town for public homage at 4 PM.It needs mention that AASU,Nagarik Manch Tangla and BPF leader Jayanta Barua of Tangla had also brought another three ashes container from Guwahati and were placed togather for public homage for three days ie on 9,10 and 11 November. Various programmes including community prayer,Naam etc were arranged on all the three days. All the ashes containers were ceremoniously immersed in the Nonai river near Tangla town at 2 PM on November 12. More than three thousand people attended the procession leading to the immersion site. It is also known that people of Tangla will organise public “Shradh” of the departed singer on November 15 with daylong programme.

Tangla students organized rally to support Anna

Following millions of students and youths of the country,the school students of Tangla organized a huge rally at Tangla on August 19 offering full support to Anna's fast against corruption.Students of Arunodoi Academy,Tangla took all the initiative to organise the rally where students of other schools of Tangla namely- Tangla English Medium High School; Assam Academy;Adarsha Viddyapith, Tangla; Don Bosco,Tangla;Jnyanjyoti Academy, Sankardev Sishu Vidya Niketan Tangla; Jatiya Vidhyalaya Tangla etc.took part.The rally started from Tangla HS School at 10 AM.More than thousand students along with teachers marched through various roads of Tangla town shouting various slogans and holding playcards in hands.Later a meeting was organised at the play ground of Tangla HS School where students and teachers expressed their support to Anna Hazare.

Your voice against superstition:A students' interactive session at Udalguri

National Children's Science Congress (NCSC) Udalguri district committee has organized a unique programme for students titled “Your voice against superstition” at the conference hall of the Deputy Commissioner's office,Udalguri at 10 AM on August 11.The programme was sponsored by Udalguri district administration. More than 100 students from 30 schools of different places of the district namely -Kalaigaon ,Khoirabari, Bhergaon, Suklai,Tangla, Udalguri,Rowta,Orang and Mazbat took part in the programme to discuss topics like witch hunting,dog and snake bite,destruction of forests, health and hygiene etc.Top level civil. police,forest,army,health officials of the district hold face to face day long discussion with the students to exchange views and to find out practical solutions of a few burning social problems.

Jayanta Kumar Das,NCSC District Coordinator,,Udalguri welcomed all the distinguished guests,teachers,students and media persons assembled in the conference hall.He explained about the need for organizing more and more such programmes at various places of the district involving students to root out social malpractices relating -witch hunting,snake and dog bite,destruction of forests etc. to be followed felicitation of the guests with gamocha and arnai. Col.Sunil Upadhyay, CO,315 Field Regiment (KARGIL) formally inaugurated the programme at 11 AM. On the occasion he advised students to help administration to fight social injustice and a few malpractices like witch hunting. He said that people living below poverty line had been victims all the times.

Noted writer,Thaneswar Malakar,Deputy Commissioner,Udalguri presided over the programme as the key coordinator. Attending the programme as the coordinator, Debojit Deuri, SP,Udalguri explained the causes of social evils like witch hunting. He told students that a few scientific causes like poor nutrition,poverty,illiteracy etc had been contributing growth of blind belief and superstitions in the society. He also requested students to send information directly to him if they find any such social incidents relating witch hunting etc.

Capt(Dr) Rachit Sharma of 421 Field Hospital,Hatigarh,attending the programme as another special guest cum coordinator interacted with the students on the topics like snake and dog bite. He explained all about the 'do; and 'do-nots' on the matter.According to him only three classes of snakes namely crait, cobra and vipers are found in India which are poisonous.He said that people die from snake and dog bite because of lack of knowledge, shock and superstition .He taught students the first aids to be administered to victims in the emergency.

Another special guest cum coordinator of the programme,Bankim Sarma,DFO,Udalguri told students that most of the flora and fauna of Assam had been destroyed by people,thereby causing burning problems like man-elephant conflict. He further said that thousands of tall and large trees have been destroyed in the state in the name construction of new roads,buildings,bridges and dams.This rapid man made destruction had compelled birds like vultures,kites,hawks,adjutants. owls etc to migrate to other places or to disappear from the world unnoticed. He requested students to plant more and more tall and large trees for biodiversity conservation.

Chairperson cum key coordinator,Thaneswar Malakar,Deputy Commissioner,Udalguri thanked students for their interest in fighting the burning social problems like witch hunting etc and requested them to spread the message of the programme to other hundreds in their respective villages. Munin Sarma offered vote of thanks at the end.The programme was also attended by Kulen Talukdar,ADC,Udalguri; Dr.Dilip Hazarika,joint Director, Health, Udalguri, Ajanta Sonowal,District Social Welfare officer,Udalguri;Dipen Boro,Advisor,ABSU,Udalguri district committee.A district level written quiz on renewable energy was also arranged after the session to select the Udalguri district team in the All Assam Inter-district quiz on renewable energy to be held at Silpagram, Guwahati on August 19 next. Rojica Basumatari (Sacret Heart School,Udalguri); Kunal Sarma (RAME School,Udalguri) and Dupardipta Das (JNV,Udalguri) won first three places respectively in the written quiz.

village out into the streets recently to halt the completion of the Denizli-Salihli Highway.

Written by Jennifer Hattam, a Treehugger blogger.
New roads are built all the time in Turkey without much fuss, but the prospect of losing a massive oak tree that had stood in their town for 800 years brought residents of one Aegean village out into the streets recently to halt the completion of the Denizli-Salihli Highway.
Villagers and environmentalists in Kadıköy village, part of Buldan district in Denizli province, began standing guard around the 800-year-old oak tree to keep it from being chopped down as part of the road-construction process, the Doğan news agency reported this week.
“The highway can pass by anywhere, but how many trees are there around that are 800 years old?” asked Salih Atlamaz, head of the Buldan Association for the Protection of Natural Life and Culture.
An Officially Monumental Tree
In a bid to keep the tree standing, local residents successfully petitioned for it to be registered as a “monumental tree” (anıt ağaç in Turkish), a designation that confers protection. Turkey’s monumental trees include a famous Oriental plane tree outside the gate of Istanbul’s Topkapı Palace and a 650-plus-year-old plane tree in the nearby town of İznik.
An official commission extended protected status to the tree after determining that it was indeed seven to eight centuries old, meaning that although road construction will likely continue in another location, the oak will continue to shade Kadıköy residents.
“If we cut down these trees, we will be denying our past. We have saved the tree through our efforts, and the real victory belongs to the villagers who protected the tree,” Atlamaz told the Doğan news agency. “I encourage all other citizens to take responsibility for their cultural, historical and natural assets.”


Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/800-year-old-oak-tree-stops-traffic-in-turkey.html#ixzz1SQ5dMJEM

Financial aids to poor and sick students at Kalaigaon

 Financial aids to poor and sick students at Kalaigaon

Thaneswar Malakar,DC,Udalguri is seen awarding financial aid to a critically ill girl

Durgat Kalyan Nyas (DKN) a Kalaigaon based social organization distributed financial aids to ten meritorious students of Darrang and Udalguri district,who could not persue higher study due to financial problem. The organization also distributed financial aids to seven numbers of critically ill patients at the same function,named “Anya Ek Sadichar Abeli”at Kalaigaon on July 9. Founded in 2007 under the guidance civil servant DN Hazarika,DKN has been offering helping hands to numbers of poor and critically ill people. Lohit Chandra Nath,secretary DKN welcomed all the guests,students,patients and people at the beginning of the programme,which was organized at Kalaigaon Circle Office premises at 2 PM. DN Hazarika, founder of DKN presided over the programme.

Attending the programme as the chief guest,noted writter Thaneswar Malakar, Deputy Commissioner,Udalguri in his speech thanked the members of DKN, Kalaigaon.He also thanked its founder president DN Hazarika for his good and timely initiative in the matter.He remarked that our society is very much thankful to a few honest civil service officers who had been doing all the good works for the society unnoticed by the people.According to him Assamese literature had very much been enriched by the Assamese civil service officers during pre independance era.He appealed all to contribute at leat something minimum for others particularly for poor and critically ill people of the society.In this regard he advised people also to plant trees for wild birds and animals.He explained that the animal and birds would be vanished if people do not provide food and shelter for them.According to him a civil service officer could very much excelerate the pace of welfare in the society if he could mobilise public support and cooperation.

Several distinguished people namely-Nabin Chandra Boro,District Education Officer, Kokrajhar; social worker Kami Ram Saharia of Kalaigaon; Ghateswar Barua,of Tangla College; Dr.Ram Chandra Deka of Sipajhar College etc also spoke a few words on the occasion. The ten meritorious students who had been awarded an ampunt of rupees of two thousand each were- Pulin Deka,Lipika Kalita,Biju Daimari, Nitumoni Sarma,Dipjyoti Sarma,Himjyoti Tamuli,Binita Deka,Umesh Kumar Deka, Nazima Begum and Abhijit Rabha and the seven critically ill patients who had been awarded an amount of rupees three thousand were-Chandrama Deka,Mangali Daimari, Junu Nath,Bipin Chandra Boro,Pranita Nath,Phuleswari Boro and Nirada Boro.

Hundreds donated blood at Udalguri in Assam

Nearly three hundred people volunteer to donate blood at a blood donation camp cum awareness camp organized at DC s parade ground , Udalguri on July 16. The camp was organized by Udalguri district administration in association with Indian Red Cross Society,Udalguri;Assam State AIDS Control Society,Guwahati and Blood Banks of Mangaldai and Sonitpur.The blood donation camp witnessed 286 Nos of people including SS Meenakshi Sundaram, DC,Udalguri and Lt.Col Shes Giri of 65 Field Regiment, Mangaldai; members of ABSU,AJYCP,NDFB(P),AMSU;AKRSU etc donating blood for saving somebody's lives. This has been considered significant at a time when Udalguri district had been facing so many socio-economic problems like insurgency,ethnic clashes,man-elephant conflict etc.
Prior to the arrangement of the blood donation camp a three days motivation cum training programme on blood donation had been arranged at DCs conference hall Udalguri from July 13 to 15 for the students ,teachers and other people so as to create awareness among people on the issue of donating blood. The camp was formally inaugurated at a function at Parade ground,Udalguri on July 16 at 10 am with paying of homage to Mahatma Gandhi which was presided over by DC Udalguri. Mihir Kumar Barua ADC welcomed all the blood donors, guests and supporting agencies on the occasion followed by a felicitation ceremony which was conducted by Kulen Talukdar,ADC Udalguri. Several distinguished guests like MP Sarma,PD,DRDA; AP Tiwari,SP,Udalguri; Lt.Col Shesh Giri,of 65 Field Regiment,Mangaldai, Col.Sunil Upadhaya,CO of 315 Field Regiment,Udalguri etc addressed the gathering. All the speakers thanked the organizers ans associating agencies and people for their noble effort to support good activities like blood donation etc. According to them a few social minded people could very much change the society towards positive direction. S S Meenakshi Sundaram DC Udalguri in his address as the president expressed his satisfaction at the never seen before response from the people and various organizations for the successful completion of the blood donation camp. He stressed the need for uniting all social minded people of the district for taking up a few common agendas like blood donation,disaster management,conservation of nature and wildlife,removal of blind believes and superstitions etc and to motivate younger generation people to think positive for the society and nation. He declared that Udalguri district administration would launch “Mission Green Udalguri” from July 26 where thousands of trees would be planted in already deforested areas in association with ABSU AJYCP and other social organizations. According to him the programme would aim at ending the man-elephant conflict in Udalguri. More programmes like arrangement of career counsellings camps, competitive examination coaching camps et5c would also be arranged,he added. According to official record the following organizations (numbers in brackets ) donated blood at the camp. ABSU (30);315 Field Regiment (30);SP Office (44);3rd Mizo IRBN (48);23rd BN SSB (24); 37 BN SSB (20); NDFB-P(10);AJYCP (9);AASU (3);AMSU (10);DC office (11);AASA (6); AAGSU (11);Assam Rifles (3);ARSU (6);AATTSA (10) and AKRSU (10).

Campaign against trafficking of children,girls and women launched in Udalguri in India

The alarming increasing rate of trafficking of children, adolescent girls and women has now been considered to be the most important social problem of not only Udalguri but BTAD districts as well.the small children are being trafficked for engagement in different shops or factories in the hazardous condition despite of the existence of child labor prohibitory acts in the country. By the way of engagement of child labor ,the children are most often harassed, abused and even more dragged into street begging by some notorious professionals.The adolescent girls of the poor families are also quite often convinced by the middle man or woman for working as domestic servants in towns and cities at higher rate of payment and are being trafficked.The parents or guardian cannot refrain from temptation.But they can never see or know anything at what situation their children and girls are facing at their work place.
The adolescent girls are also sexually abused at their work place leading them pregnant and nursing mothers.Even more such girls are being murdered after sexual abuse.The women are also allured by the brokers (Dalals) and trafficked to places like Delhi,Gujrat,Mumbai,Agra,Jummu,Kolkata and Siliguri etc. Interception of large numbers of such girls an women at Rangia and New Bongaigaon etc by social organizations like ABSU has proved the seriousness of the problem. The Dalals are said to be paid Rs.25000 in average for each of the girl or woman.Large numbers of bogus placement agencies operating from Delhi,Agra,Mumbai and Kolkata etc. enroll hundreds of agents in Assam to lure girls and women.
Recently an Assam Police team had raided the premises of several such placement agencies in New Delhi and rescued several victims. According to Sekhar Biswas,Officer In-charge,Kalaigaon Police Station (who personally supervised the raid in New Delhi) told this correspondent that brokers of such placement agencies used to shuttle once in month between Assam and New Delhi etc.Moreover all those placement agencies had no valid permission from the government.A few such placement agencies operating from New Delhi are - SS Maid Service;Raj Enterprise;Tania Maid Service;Assami Maid Service;Dipti Enterprise;National Placement service ;Sweta Placement service;Sanjana Maid Service etc. have been continuing their antisocial activities in New Delhi unabated .
Udalguri district administration,headed by Deputy Commissioner S.S Meenakshi Sundaram,IAS,recently convened an emergency meeting at Udalguri on June 23 to discuss the matter.The meeting which was held at the DCs conference Hallwas attended by high level civil and police officials beside ABSU and Bodo Women activists.The Deputy Commissioner who had presided over the meeting directed all civil and police officials of the district to implement the guidelines issued by the BTC Authority to stop illegal trafficking activities in the district.A district level Women Cell was formed with DC,Udalguri as the Chairman; P.K.Mahanta,ADC as the Member Secretary;all ADCs, SP, Addl SP, SDO (Civil)Bhergaon,Joint Director of Health,Superintendent of Excise as the members beside three civilian members namely - Nerkhang Khakhlary(district secretary ABSU); Dipti Daimari,(Bodo women activist) and Jayanta Das (social worker).The meeting decided to form Sub-Divisional,and ICDS project level committees for creating awareness among common people.

Depredated villagers of Nonaipara rejoice at birth of wild jumbo calf!

Depredated villagers of Nonaipara rejoice at birth of wild jumbo calf!

Putting up with occasional elephant depredations for months on end, the villagers of Nonaipara along the Indo-Bhutan border in Udalguri district obviously love to hate the slatey grey giants.

But aversion for the lumbering six-tonners turned into affection with the advent of ‘Nandini’, a calf born on July 20 at 8 am to an expectant female accompanying a 60-strong wild herd. The tuskers had been foraging for fodder in Section 28 of Nonaipara Tea Estate. Christened Nandini by the local people, the calf was born hardly a km away from human habitation.

Such was the ecstasy among the locals that they celebrated the event and even distributed sweets among themselves in the firm belief that it would herald good fortune. Infatuated by the antics of the wobbly little jumbo, members of a local NGO named Green Valley Forest and Wildlife Protection Society, mostly comprising of tea garden labourers, took turns to protect the nursing mother and her calf, Chief Executive Officer Ananta Bagh of the Green Valley forest and wildlife Protection Society informed this scribe.

Following arrival of the newborn, the herd swiftly moved to Section 4 of the tea estate, popularly known as Guatemala, revealed Golap Behra, secretary of the NGO which is mandated to conserve the ecology. Prior to the new addition, the herd had been frequenting Orangajuli, Nonaipara and Bamunjuli areas since the last one month.

On the flip side, Arjun Tanti (30), an inhabitant of Section 17 of Nonaipara TE escaped death by a whisker after being seriously injured by a wild elephant while he was bathing in a stream at around 6 pm on July 21. The incident created a furore as the locals took the Government to task for its inability to check the frequent trail of death and destruction by the marauding pachyderms, especially in northern Udalguri. The Chief Minister and Forest Minister too were sounded and warned of drastic consequences by the aggrieved people.

In the backdrop of these developments, WWF officials have visited Tangla and put their heads together with representatives of Green Valley Forest and Wildlife Protection Society, besides members of other organisations. As an outcome, they have resolved to arrange an awareness camp at Bamunjuli on August 5.