Cachar Paper Mill crisis

Gogoi to take up issue with Governor, NCHAC

By our Staff ReporterGUWAHATI, June 28: Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will initiate discussion with the Governor and the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) soon to mitigate the crisis being faced by the Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram due to shortage of raw materials. An assurance in this regard has been given by the Chief Minister to the employees’ and officers’ associations of the mill who met Gogoi here today.NC Hills is the major source of green bamboo used in the mill as raw materials. A discussion was held with the Chief Minister at his office chamber at the State Secretariat here today on the pathetic plight of the mill, said Lalit Raj, general secretary of the Cachar Paper Project Workers’ and Employees’ Union (CPPWEU), while talking to The Sentinel.The meeting was attended by Excise and Border Area Development Minister Gautam Roy, Algapur MLA Rahul Roy, Parliamentary Secretary in-charge of Finance Ajit Singh and Deputy General Manger (Forest) of the Paper Mill HN Baruah. CPPWEU president Prasanta Ranjan Deb, its vice-president Ranadhir Deb, Cachar Paper Mill Officers’ and Supervisors’ Association vice-president Ashis Kumar Mazumdar and its general secretary Dipak Chandra Nath were also present at the meeting.Both the unions, in a joint memorandum, informed Gogoi that though the NCHAC had entered into an agreement with the Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) on October 11, 2006 to supply 1.80 lakh metric tonnes of bamboo to the mill annually, it failed to fulfil the agreement due to “horse-trading” by a contractor — RS Gandhi — who took NC Hills forest on lease for 20 years.The Chief Minister has taken the matter very seriously and suggested to the mill authorities to quash the agreement with the erstwhile Congress-led NCHAC, if necessary, said the union leaders. The union representatives attributed various reasons to the short supply of raw materials, and some of the reasons are militancy, non-availability of railway rakes, interference of “influential persons” and poor road connectivity.The Chief Minister assured the delegation of taking up the matter with the NF Railway authorities so as to ensure availability of railway rakes for smooth supply of bamboo from NC Hills, the union sources said. Apart from procuring bamboo from Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya, the Chief Minister suggested the mill authorities to utilize waste wood as an alternative to bamboo.Though the production of the mill resumed on June 25, only one of the two units of the mill is operational causing a loss to the tune of Rs 20 lakh a day, union sources said. The capacity of the mill is around 300 metric tonnes a day (150MTX2). It is hard to run the mill in full capacity unless supply of bamboo from the NC Hills is resumed, the unions told Gogoi. The Chief Minister assured the delegation of visiting the mill very soon. source: sentinel assam

Edible bamboo shoot cultivation training in KA by RFRI as alternative to Jhum cultivation

Edible bamboo shoot cultivation training in KA by RFRI as alternative to Jhum cultivation
From a CorrespondentJORHAT, June 12:

In a bid to provide a sustainable alternative to jhum cultivators and augment their income, the Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI) here conducted a training programme for farmers and entrepreneurs in edible bamboo shoot cultivation at Rongbong Ghat and Deoithar villages under Nilip Block in the Karbi Anglong district.Project Coordinator Pawan K Kaushik said that a survey was conducted prior to the training and three self-help groups selected for planting four edible species of bamboo – kako, bholuka, katoha and mokal – with special emphasis on bholuka which is specially delicious.“Two sites of one hectare each and a nursery of 2 bighas for growing the rhizomes were demarcated and the three self-help groups put in charge,” Kaushik informed.“A linkage was also established with two edible bamboo shoot processing units – the Luit Valley Bamboo Shoot Processing Unit at Jorhat and Deoisar Bamboo Shoot Processing Unit in Dimapur, Nagaland so that the product could be sold in the market.Explaining the macroproliferation techniques of bamboo shoots Kaushik said that a more than two year old rhizome can produce shoots mostly in the months of April, May, June and July. While the mokal bamboo clump, made of a number of bamboo clams, produces a maximum of 14 to 16 shoots followed by Kako 9 to 11, the bholuka in June and July produces only 6 to 7 shoots, making it the most costliest.Referring to the economics, Kaushik said that in any given year an income of about Rs 1 lakh can be generated from 1 hectare of land cultivated with edible bamboo shoots. “Depending on the distance in which the clumps are sown usually three by three metres to five by five metres distance anything between Rs 35000 to Rs 65000 can be made during three months April, May and June when the shoots proliferate,” he further said.“If the project succeeds, it will be replicated in other areas where shifting cultivation is practised. It will ease the pressure on land and augment the income of the farmers,” Kaushik further said. “By and by we will start intercropping with agricultural and horticultural plants and seeds and saplings of good mango varieties, plum, Asom lemon, mausambi, Nagpur orange, etc to the farmers,” the project coordinator stated.More than 60 participants attended the technology transfer programme. The lecture on cultivation management and economics was delivered by Dr TC Bhuyan, extension officer under the project, and by Kumud Bora, research assistant at RFRI while Kaushik gave a brief outline of the aims and objectives. The meeting was attended by Ratan Engti, deputy chairman, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council as chief guest while David K Timung, BDO of Nilip Block attended as special guest. Nabard District Development Manager Sanjay Bhattacharyya was also present.