The boat-makers of Majuli

Majuli, in the Brahmaputra, once covered about 1,250 square kilometres. By 2014 it had shrunk to about 483 square kilometres, and some 170,000 people still live there. On an island where bridges are scarce, boats are not a hobby but a lifeline.

Reporting by IndiaSpend, also carried by Scroll.in, visited Salmora, where about 80% of the boats used on the island are made. The village has lost almost half of its land. Boat-builders Prasanna Bora and Dharmeswar Hazarika told the reporter how erosion and tree-felling rules are changing their work: the hollong tree, Assam's state tree and an endangered species, was the favoured timber, and felling trees on the island is now prohibited. Bora's summary: “Every year we lose land and forest to erosion.”

A 16-foot boat costs around Rs 35,000, more if the timber has to be bought from off the island. Annual erosion has risen sharply, from about 1.75 square kilometres a year in 1975–90 to 6.7 square kilometres a year in 2005–17. The 1950 earthquake, which raised the riverbed with silt, is widely cited as a factor.

Visitors can help by choosing operators that employ local boatmen, by travelling in the dry season when the ferries run reliably, and by understanding that Majuli's charms are fragile.