GUWAHATI: The 134 Eco-Task Force (ETF) of the Territorial Army has planned to launch full-scale a war against deforestation by using “seed balls” technology in Sonitpur, the district on the northern banks of Brahmaputra that has since large-scale felling of trees since the 1990s.
Col S Aravind Prasad, who heads 134 ETF based at the fringe of
Nameri National Park in Sonitpur, said that his unit is working on introducing “seed balls” technology to intensify afforestation drive to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
In this technology, seeds are rolled into a ball of earth,
humus and other nutrients and can keep the seed alive for several months.
“You just throw or drop seed balls, and in due course of time, the seed will germinate into plants. This process of dispersing seed balls is called broadcast. It has the advantage over conventional way of sapling plantation by consuming less time and covering more areas by a green cover,” Col Prasad said.
He said that his unit is in the process of procuring one million seed balls of forest variety native species.
Over 32,000 saplings planted by ETF involving the local villagers, school and college students, NCC cadets, forest department and Army in Sonitpur and Biswanath districts during the week-long Van Mahotsav recently.
Col Prasad that the process of participatory plantation drive will continue so that more people get involved in fighting deforestation.
“We are also working on a participatory model for the afforestation drive so that people become an intrinsic part of the plantation drive,” he added.
Experts estimated that almost 70% of 1334-odd square kilometre of forest area in the district has been encroached and destroyed. In the 1990s, Sonitpur witnessed large-scale deforestation and encroaching, wiping out many of the reserved forests of green cover as for instance the 81 sq km Naduar was bereft of tree cover. Many attributed to the insurgency problem during the 1990s led to deforestation.
