Guwahati  Diary

‘No proof wastes are polluting wetland’
Environmentalists have often alleged that wastes dumped near Deepor Beel (wetland), located on the outskirts of Guwahati, have turned its water toxic. However, the Assam government recently said the dumping ground is half-a-kilometre away and there is no scientific proof it is polluting the lake. The government said there are many factors and it does not have concrete proof of anything. Deepor Beel is a freshwater lake, protected under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, 1971. 

Congress rakes up Saradha scam
Opposition Congress in Assam raked up the Saradha chit fund scam following the recent CBI-West Bengal police tiff on the issue. Congress took out a march to the office of CBI in Guwahati recently seeking details of the probe in Assam. Ahead of last Lok Sabha elections, BJP had implicated the state’s minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, to the scam. Sarma, who was then with Congress, defected to BJP ahead of 2016 Assam elections. The Congress said earlier the CBI had interrogated Sarma and also raided his house but the investigation came to a grinding halt after he joined BJP. The party questioned if the CBI was trying to shield the wrongdoers in Assam.

Zoo’s conservation success
Assam’s Golden Langur Conservation Breeding Programme has achieved its maiden success with the birth of a female offspring at the Assam State Zoo, widely known as Guwahati Zoo, recently. The Central Zoo Authority (CZA), New Delhi, had mandated the Guwahati Zoo to proceed with the Conservation Breeding Programme of Golden Langur.

With funds being provided by it, the project for conservation was started in 2011-12. As a result of sustained and dedicated efforts of animal keepers and support provided by zoo authorities, Bolin (male langur) and Lovely gave birth to Bobby. Bolen and Lovely were brought to Guwahati Zoo in April last year from Kokrajhar to be part of the experiment of the conservation breeding programme.

No to camera, blind to smartphone
It is like making a big hole and a small hole in the wall for a big cat and a small one to pass through. The office of Kamrup (Metropolitan) District Magistrate adheres to that old metaphor. Policemen on duty do not allow camera into the office premises. So, if you are a visitor to Guwahati, it is better keep your camera bag in a hotel. But why allow smartphones? “That we don’t know. We only know the rules. No cameras,” says a guard. “We don’t have a room to keep anything,” he adds. Inside the office, the smartphones are left as just cameras because there is no mobile network.