Assam's 35th District

Something that should have happened many years ago was accomplished by Assam Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal on Thursday when he declared Majuli the 35th district of Assam. Apart from being the world’s largest inhabited river island, Majuli is the revered and cherished seat of Vaishvite culture. Even so, for years Majuli has remained isolated from the rest of Assam because of its location and the poor communication facilities to the island. Since 1951, severe erosion by the Brahmaputra has taken away more than half of Majuli’s land area. But for more than half-a-century, there has been practically no government initiative to control this erosion. So, it was a good idea of the Chief Minister to hold a Cabinet meeting of the State government at Majuli, since it ebled the ministers present to assess what was needed to be done by their departments for the speedy development of a part of the State that has suffered due to decades of neglect. It is heartening to find that there has been some importance given to the potential of Majuli both in the realm of culture and agriculture and that the State government is doing everything to ensure that Majuli is placed by the UNESCO on the World Heritage Site map. The elevation of Majuli to a separate district with the headquarters at Garamur will hopefully go a long way towards expediting development of the island and towards making communication much less painful.