Dima Hasao

This wild variety of betel leaf (Paan) grows naturally in the jungles of Dima Hasao. It is nearly identical to the cultivated variety.

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20. Zuluk, Sikkim

Located in the lower Himalayas in east Sikkim, Zuluk is situated at an altitude of 10,000 feet and is an unexplored destination which has gained importance owing to its strategic location on the historic Old Silk Route and its proximity to the Indo-China border. The Old Silk Route was the official corridor between India and China. The Silk Route originates from Kalimpong and passes through Pedong, Aritar, Zuluk and Jelepla to Chumbi valley located in Tibet.

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HAJONG LAKE; ABODE OF TURTLES

HAFLONG, Feb. 12: Hajong lake is situated in the Langting Mupa forest reserve of Dima Hasao district near Hajong village inhabitant by the dimasa people and is situated at a distance of around 80 kilometres north of district headquarter Haflong . This lake is known to be one of the only few rare natural tortoise habitats in Assam and is home to a few varieties of Hill Terrapins (a rare species). Besides being home to these beautiful species the Hajong lake area is also a natural habitat for various wildlife like The Hoolock Gibbon, Whistling Teal etc. The growth of population of the present around 500 terrapins or more are known to inhabit this area.

On reaching the lake one would wonder why the lake is still perfectly sheltering dozens of tortoise. The reason perhaps is the arduous marshland and thick jungles surrounding the lake and the giant trees and thick bushes teeming in the lake water made it physically very difficult to ferret these sluggish imperilled creatures especially in the summer.

However, a story which is more than a legend and the mythological belief among the villagers nearby to some extent also helping the animal, according to which once upon a time the Hajong was a prosperous village but one day when the villagers caught one old python living in the village underground and killed it for the meat, the sin of killing the python became a curse and the village on that night sank into a lake and those eating the meat became tortoises except one old virtuous woman who left the village as she was cautioned in her dream to leave the village as she did not eat the python meat who latter spread the news to other villages.

This credence of not killing innocent animals and the Hajong tortoises are not mere animals but human beings. This belief is still alive among the people living around the Hajong lake for which even today villagers nearby perform indigenous pujas by offering goats or chicken to “cajole” the jungle Gods to save villagers from any problems of Hajong.

Though the people remember the story but nowadays no one really cares about it threatening the existence of these rare creatures. People of the village inform that the things are not quite as same as in earlier days for to most of the present generation killing a tortoise means nothing and incidents of poachers coming from faraway villages to kill the animal is also quite common.

So every year on the bank of Hajong lake Tortoise Festival is organised. This festival aims to create awareness among the villagers surrounding villages of Hajong Lake about the safety of the endangered tortoise species available in the area.

The people should try to protect the place by upgrading it to a “tortoise sanctuary” which will definitely help in preservation of the place for study and research purpose without destabilising its existing ecology.

By- S. Hagjer