Who will now be held responsible? Whose negligence is all this? And will the guilty face the music?

At least 350 girls in Tezpur and 45 in Mangaldoi fell ill after they were given folic acid tablets under a National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme in Sonitpur and Darrang district on Wednesday. The Mangaldoi DC has ordered a magistrate-level inquiry into the incident. Condemning the incident, the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) has demanded of the State government to find out the manufacturers of the tablets and punish them.

GUWAHATI: The people of Rajbari, Tamulbari, Tintukra, Rail Gate, Bonda, Birkuchi and Sankar Gaon villages under Kamrup (Metro) have been suffering from the non-availability of pure drinking water. People of these villages say that though drinking water is being supplied to the villages through a 34.25-km long pipe built under a Rs 453.54 lakh water supply scheme of the Central Government, breakages in the pipe contaminate the water and people don’t get the pure water for drinking.

NEW DELHI, May 7 – UNICEF has reported arsenic contamination in ground water in 18 districts of Assam and fluoride contamination in five districts.
Based on information from Chief Engineer (PHE) of the State Government, a UNICEF study has found arsenic and fluoride contamination, Minister of State for Water Resources, Vincent H Pala said in a Rajya Sabha reply to a question by Naznin Faruque.

GUWAHATI: Assam has reason to cheer. A census of one-horned rhinos at the renowned Kaziranga National Park (KNP) recorded an increase of 242 animals over a three-year period. This was disclosed by State Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussain today.

The last census in 2009 recorded 2,048 rhinos in KNP, of which eight were translocated to Manas National Park. The two-day-long census, which ended on Sunday evening, recorded the presence of 2,290 one-horned rhinos in the Park.

GUWAHATI: A census of one-horned rhinos at the renowned Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in Assam recorded an increase of almost 250 animals over a three-year period. The last census in 2009 recorded 2,048 rhinos in KNP, of which eight were trans-located to Manas National Park. The two-day-long census, which ended late Sunday evening, recorded the presence of 2,290 one-horned rhinos in the Park, a senior official involved in the census operation told IANS on Monday.

Guwahati: Assam has recorded a remarkable growth in its elephant population, according to the recently concluded elephant census in the state.

The elephant census this year recorded a total of 5,620 elephants in Assam compared to 5,246 elephants in the 2009 census year, state Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain said and added that an increase of 374 in the jumbo population was a good indication. The forest minister also released a report regarding the elephant census.

MANGALDAI, March 18 – Much to the delight of nature lovers in the State, the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Darrang district recorded a total of 100 rhinos in a census conducted by the State Forest department on March 15. The figure, informed SK Dyla, DFO, Mangaldai Wildlife Division, shows an increase of 36 rhinos in comparison to the count conducted three years back.

MANGALDAI, Nov 22 – The Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Darrang district, considered to be the only natural habitat for the one-horned rhino on the North bank of the Brahmaputra, is soon going to be the highest tiger density forest in India. According to a latest tiger status report released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India, the Orang National Park is only 0.15/100 sq km unit density behind the Corbett National Park with the highest tiger density of 17.83/100sq km.

There is strong resentment among the nature lovers of Darrang district and the Orang area in Udalguri district over the recent spurt in the incidents of suspected killing of animals within the Orang National Park in Darrang district.

It may be mentioned that close on the heels of the killing of a full-grown female rhino by poachers on January 8, the carcass of a mature male rhino was reportedly

GUWAHATI, Sept 21