Assam seeks realignment of rail track through sanctuary

Subject : Environment / Geography

Context : Trains have run over several elephants on the track between the Rani Reserve Forest and Deepor Beel.

Concept :

The Assam government has proposed the realignment of a broad gauge railway line through the Deepor Beel.
Several elephants have been run over on the railway track between the elevated Rani Reserve Forest and the sanctuary. The elephants use four corridors crossing the track to often bathe and feed on the aquatic plants in the wetland.

Deepor Beel

Deepor Beel is located to the south-west of Guwahati city, in Kamrup district of Assam, India.
It is a permanent freshwater lake, in a former channel of the Brahmaputra River, to the south of the main river.
It is a wetland under the Ramsar Convention which has listed since November 2002, for undertaking conservation measures on the basis of its biological and environmental importance.
Considered as one of the largest beels in the Brahmaputra valley of Lower Assam, it is categorised as a representative of the wetland type under the Burma monsoon forest biogeographic region.
It is also an important bird sanctuary habituating many migrant species.
Freshwater fish is a vital protein and source of income for these communities; the health of these people is stated to be directly dependent on the health of this wetland ecosystem.