Pobitora problem

The tiny Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, which according to a recent census, has 102 rhinoceros has a problem with many cattle jostling for space, says a report in the Assam Tribune. Pradipta Baruah, DFO, Guwahati Wildlife Division, said this had caused problems for them with no solution in sight.

Conservationists fear the rhinos might get an infection from domestic animals. Pobitora, covering 38.83 sq km, shelters many rhinos, their area (grassland) is barely 16 sq km. Located at Mayong, 30 km from Guwahati, the sanctuary was a grazing reserve for cattle before it was declared a reserve forest in 1971. In 1987, it was upgraded to a wildlife sanctuary following thriving rhino population. The sanctuary is surrounded by some two dozen villages.

“Preventing cattle from entering the sanctuary does not seem a realistic proposition. So we are taking steps to ensure that the cattle are covered under-vaccination. The forest department has been conducting vaccination camps in the nearby villages. Early Birds, an NGO, has been doing that for a long time,” Baruah said.

Ayurveda cure

At a time when Assam’s homoeopathic fraternity is getting a raw deal from the state government, the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy, an autonomous institute under the Union Ministry of Ayush, located in Shillong, is well on its way to establishing itself as a hub of medical tourism through ayurveda and homoeopathy, with special emphasis on panchakarma, says a report in the Assam Tribune. The institute’s growth is evident from the fact that 34,508 patients benefitted from the out-patient department services in Ayurveda at its 100-bed Ayurvedic hospital, while 29,791 OPD patients were recorded in the 50-bed homoeopathy hospital in 2017, with an average of 200 patients recorded every OPD day.

“Ayurvedic panchakarma modalities, yoga and pranayama along with diet and medications are highly effective in the management of common health ailments such as lower back pain, neck pain, frozen shoulder, different types of joint pains, migraine, bronchial asthma, hypertension, diabetes, different types of paralysis, et al,” Dr PK Goswami, director of the institute told the media last week .

Run and Ride

A group of 17 bikers undertook a noble mission to spread cancer awareness with Run and Ride rally. The group comprising 34 members started its mission from Guwahati and moved to Tezpur, Itanagar, Dibrugarh, Kohima, Imphal, Aizwal, Agartala and Silchar. The rally covering a total distance of over 2,100 km culminated on 21 March.

The cancer awareness rally was sponsored by Tata Trusts and Cachar Cancer Hospital in collaboration with the Voice of Tobacco Victims, National Cancer Grid, Electrobion Sip, Silchar Thumpers et al. The riders also interacted with common people to talk about cancer risk factors, sign and symptoms, its preventive measures, research aspects and treatment modalities.