MANJULI, INDIA, August 7, 2003: An ecological disaster looms over Manjuli, the world’s largest river island, located in the Brahmaputra river in India’s north-eastern state of Assam. Majuli is rapidly eroding away, threatening the lives of the 150,000 islanders. Environmentalists say Manjuli has shrunk by more than 400 square kilometers in the past three decades, reducing the island to two-thirds its original size. Affected are 22 Vaishnava monasteries. The monasteries act as the centre of Assamese culture with their traditional prayer form, a 500-year-old open air theatrical custom, colorful boat races, classical dances and handicrafts. Members of the monastery say they will have to leave Majuli if erosion continues. There has been proposal to have Majuli declared a world heritage site by the UNESCO, but it could be washed off the map one day.
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