File picture of migratory birds swarming a wetland inside Dibru-Saikhowa

July 28: Surrounded by as many as four rivers, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park could be going the Majuli way.

The Dibru, Dholla, Dangori and Saikhowa rivers criss-cross the sprawling park, eating into it bit by bit. The situation worsens during the monsoon, when the rivers swell and inundate vast tracts of the wildlife habitat. ?A large chunk of the park is being gobbled up by the quartet of rivers everyday and we are not able to do anything about it,? a forest department official bemoaned.

A manpower shortage has compounded the situation for Dibru-Saikhowa, which was declared a biosphere reserve in 1997 and accorded the status of a national park just two years later. The park management is at present short of 17 forest guards in different ranges and beats. Numerous requests to fill the vacancies have fallen on deaf ears.

?Although Dibru-Saikhowa was accorded the status of a national park eight years ago, it has received very little attention from the forest department. Infrastructure is almost non-existent. Tinsukia town is only 14 km from the entrance to the park at Guijan, but very few people know that it is a national park. This shows the level of attention given to Dibru-Saikhowa,? Niranta Gohain, a youth from a village adjacent to the park, said.

A graduate, Gohain has set up an NGO to create awareness about the park.

Dibru-Saikhowa enjoys tropical monsoon climate with a hot and wet summer, and a cool and usually dry winter. Average rainfall ranges between 2,300 mm and 3,800 mm. The park is generally open to tourists from November to April, or as notified by the park management.

?It is sad that despite having a lot to offer, the park has not received the required attention from the authorities concerned,? Gohain said.

Divisional forest officer Aniruddha Dey, however, held out hope for a better future. ?It is true that the focus on Dibru-Saikhowa is obviously not like that on Kaziranga, but we are also hosting foreign tourists in winter. The migratory birds are a major attraction. Some new initiatives have been planned and we hope that the situation will improve over the next few months,? he said over the phone.

The total area of the park, including the 425 square km buffer zone, is 765 square km.

Dibru-Saikhowa comprises semi-evergreen forests, deciduous forests, littoral and swamp forests, and patches of wet, evergreen forests. The break-up is 35.84 per cent moist mixed forests, 9.5 per cent degraded forests and 21.25 per cent grasslands.