Natural Resources in Northeast India

Introduction:

Northeast India is a storehouse of natural resources. However, important natural resources like land, forest vegetation, livestock, etc., which are essential for creating employment and generation of GDP in Northeast India, are either underutilized, unutilized, or mismanaged. Hence, a strategy for proper utilization of resources should be adopted to improve the natural resources' productivity and develop the Northeastern communities' capabilities to make optimum use of these resources. The following are some of the natural resources which are accessible in Northeast India.

Mineral Resources: 

The Northeast region of India has an abundant mineral comprising chiefly of limestone, coal, natural oil and gas, uranium, feldspar, and others. The total hydrocarbon deposits (oil and gas) accounts for 20% of total India. Assam and Tripura together estimated to have a combined reserve of 48 billion natural gases. According to the Geological Survey of India Report 2015, a substantial amount of limestone, uranium, kaolin, graphite, quartz, clay, white clay and sillimonite etc., have been mined in this region. In addition, Assam and Meghalaya have a huge reserve of coal known as ‘Black Gold’. The Northeast region is reported to have a reserve of 395 million tons of coal apart from other major minerals such as limestone, petroleum, natural gases and others. Limestone has the highest mineral reserve in Northeast regions, followed by coal, oil and natural gas. According to a survey of the Geological Survey of India headed by the Ministry of Mines, the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers and floodplains are rich in oil and natural gas reservoirs. Tripura is another major reservoir of natural gas; Manipur has a huge reserved of the platinum group of elements (PGE) massive chromite; Meghalaya is rich in minerals such as dolomite, phosphates, sillimanite, kaolin and China clay, carborundum, which includes high-quality uranium in west Khasi hills district; the deposits of iron ore is also found in the northern part of east Garo hills district.

Water Resources: 

Brahmaputra and Barak's rivers are the two largest river basins in Northeast India. The Brahmaputra is one of the world’s largest (5, 80,000 sq. km) rivers, of which 33% flows in India. It travels 1,625 km through China, 918 km through India and 337 km in Bangladesh and finally flows into the Bay of Bengal through a joint channel with the Ganga River. In India, the river basin is distributed in Arunachal Pradesh (41.88%), Assam (36.33%), West Bengal (6.47%), Meghalaya (6.10%), Nagaland (5.57%) and Sikkim (3.75%). Out of the total area of the river, 50.5% flow in China, 33.6% in India, 8.1% in Bhutan and 7.8% in Bangladesh. Barak River originates from India (Manipur) and flows into Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Northeast states can produce 60,000 MW of hydropower, out of which only 2004 MW is harnessed. The Northeast region has the highest hydropower potential, with almost 42.54% of the country. However, it has harnessed merely 3.02% of the total capacity, wherein the national average is 23.53. The region could be called the ‘Power House of India’, and it is the most promising region for hydropower generation in the world today. The Northeast states, primarily the Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Sikkim, have a huge potential for power generation. This potential, if exploited at a maximum, can be shared with other regions of the country. It could also benefit the development of infrastructure, roads, communications, and others and is also used to supply electricity to remote hilly areas of these regions. Apart from the river resource, the Northeast states have abundant, unutilized groundwater resources. The water resources in the Northeast region fall under stress when the region experiences heavy floods and other natural calamities occur. Therefore, there is a need for infrastructural and technological development to mitigate the impact of these incidences on economic development.

Forest Resources: 

North Eastern Region (NER) is endowed with enormous forest resources. Out of the total geographical area of 25.5 million hectares, 12.5 million hectares are forests. The forest cover was 65.17% of the total geographical area, but it was reduced to 46% in 2001. The forest coverage in all the states is quite high. In 2001, Mizoram had the highest forest coverage of 82.9%, followed by Nagaland (80.4%), Arunachal Pradesh (80.2%), and Manipur (75.8%). One-third of the forest area in Northeast regions is considered reserved and sacred. In Northeast India, the forest is historically controlled by the community living nearby, and it continued to do so. Entering an agreement with the state forest authority will reduce the control and conservation of the forest resources instead of enlarging the forest controlled area. More than 90% of the forests are covered in Nagaland by local institutions and norms, followed by Meghalaya (90%), Manipur (68%), Arunachal Pradesh (62%) and others. The NER is blessed with rich species of flora, valuable medicinal and ornamental plants, vegetables and fruits, valuable trees such as Sal, Teak, Champu, Sishu, Neem, Agaru, Halokh, Sarol, Bamboo, Cane, Simul, Gamari. The region has plenty of birds and animals such as rhinoceros, golden langur, wild buffalo, elephants, hoolock gibbon, langur, the four horn antelope, musk deer, bear, wild boar, Royal Bengal Tiger, musk deer, barking deer, bison, wild cats, civet cats, snow leopard, leopard, monitors, lizards, python, cobra, tortoise, turtle, freshwater gharial, peacock, storkulture, eagle, parrots, doves, ducks, pelican tec. The region's people established small scale industries such as plywood mills, paper, and pulp mills, sawmills, match manufacturing factories based on the available resources. The Northeast region is famous for forest produce such as rubber, tea, silk, rubber, tobacco, bamboo, and fruits like pineapple, orange etc.

Conclusions:

The exploitation of natural resources in Northeast India is still done in an unsustainable manner. The social-environmental impacts of megaprojects are disdain, following which people’s disappointment in movements is a common phenomenon in the region. Owing to underdevelopment, the need for developmental activities is inevitable; however, the approach should focus on sustainable and inclusive growth so that the fulfilment of the basic requirements of the society is sustained at a minimal level while safeguarding the existing rich environmental resources and culture of the indigenous people. 

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