MEGHALAYA Governor M. M. Jacob has directed the State Government to explore the possibility of raising an ecological battalion involving ex-servicemen considering their excellent performance as security personnel in various institutions.

“I am happy to note that some of you are doing excellent as security personnel in various banks, Doordarshan Kendra and other establishments. I will also stress upon the Meghalaya Government to examine the feasibility of raising an ecological battalion to be manned exclusively by the ex-servicemen,” the Governor said while addressing a rally of former defence personnel. Mr. Jacob, chairman of the managing committee of the special fund for reconstruction and rehabilitation of ex-servicemen, said, the former defence personnel had been provided with alternative self-employment schemes in view of limited jobs in government sectors.

For those  with various ailments, efforts have been made to double the amount ranging , besides being provided interest subsidy to ex-servicemen entrepreneurs, he added. The Governor said that the government had hiked the monthly monetary relief of the Second World War non-pensioners and the widows of such personnel at the rate of Rs 600 from April, 2001. The state government has sanctioned an ex-gratia  payment of Rs 2 lakh to each war widow and next of kin besides the parents of a Kargil martyrs, Capt Clifford Nongrum, and Sepoy Apbass Lyngwa. NE population growth degrading environment High rate of population growth as compared to the rest of India is a major cause for environmental degradation in the North-East, according to scientists.

High population has resulted in resource depletion and environmental degradation even as more and more people are exposed to the hazards of pollution and natural disaster in the region. As per 2001 census (provisional), annual growth rate of population in the North-Eastern States is 2.2 per cent which is higher than the all India figure of 1.96 per cent.

Studies conducted by the Indian Society of Analytical Scientists (ISAS) on environmental problems of the North-East have indicated that the hill States show higher population growth than the plains. The density of population per square km is lowest in Arunachal Pradesh with 13 persons and highest in Assam with 340 people, compared to the all India figure of 324.

Large-scale deforestation has occurred in the North-Eastern States. According to one estimate, the loss of forest in the North Eastern States from 1993-95 was 783 sq kms and from 1995-97 was 1,800 sq kms. The Supreme Court of India has already put a ban on the amount of timber production from the forests of the North-East. Deforestation has destroyed the natural habitat of wild-life as a result of which man-animal conflict has risen in the North-East, scientists have pointed out. In a high rainfall area, loss of forests of hundreds of sq kms annually, may contribute to the land denudation, silting of rivers and reservoir beds, loss of top soils which will hamper in the ecological balance.

A large number of people in the hills still practice the ancient Jhum or shifting cultivation which is associated with destruction of forest, soil nutrients and micro-organisms. This has resulted in the change of micro-climate and ecosystem of the region. North East may be industrially backward, but the exploration and mining of natural resources such as oil and gas have led to environmental degradation. This has caused reduction in crop yield, affected the flora and fauna, and polluted the atmosphere in the region. The problem has become more acute in Assam due to oil exploration.

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