Saving Manipur’s Sangai from untreated human waste

Morung Express | IANS | Imphal, December 27 ():

Under attack from water pollution due to untreated waste, these islets have thinned down — making it tough for the deer to live on and off them. Of the 40 square km of the national park, about 65 per cent (26 square kilometre) is covered with thick and almost contiguous mat of floating meadows.

“To support the weight of Sangai (weighing between 90 kg and 150 kg) and sustain a stable population of the deer, the phumdis needs to be at least a metre thick,” Chongpi Tuboi of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) told IANS.

Tuboi, a project scientist, in the WII’s conservation action plan for Sangai, says the phumdis that have formed recently (it may take up to 20 years for one phumdi to form) are less than a metre in thickness. “Overall, only nine square kilometres of the total park area has the required phumdi thickness of at least one metre,” Tuboi said.