Visit of Ford Foundation team to Assam

The Ford Foundation, New Delhi, expressed an interest in the work of C-NES along the Brahmaputra and a team visited our research sites at Dibrugarh, Majuli, Guwahati and also went to Kukuramara, near Guwahati. The visit was planned and coordinated by Managing Trustee Sanjoy Hazarika the entire Brahmaputra research team also traveled to these sites. The four-member Ford team was headed by Dr. Ganesh Balachander (Representative) and others three were Ms. Tuhina Sunder, Ms. Roshmi Goswami and Mr. Prakash Kashwan. .

The team visited three research sites, largely by boat, and interacted with people living there. The team also met the DC of Dibrugarh, officials, tea executives and the Vice-Chancellor of Dibrugarh University and viewed a cultural evening of music and dance by tea tribes.

After completing site visits at Dibrugarh, Sengajan Sapori and Majuli, the team met with religious scholars at the Kamalbari satra (monastery) on Majuli, one of the largest river islands in the world and a major repository of traditions and unique environmental systems.

Before returning to Delhi, the Ford Foundation team traveled to Kukurmara near Guwahati where they watched the Gangetic Dolphin, a highly endangered species hunted for its oil, and where public involvement in conserving the creatures has protected them. They also met with representatives of NGOs in Assam and Meghalaya.