Overview
- Police and Assam Forest Department officials visited the sandbar site near the Baghmara eco‑camp and opened an investigation, with no arrests announced so far.
- Preliminary official estimates put losses at more than 5,000–5,500 saplings, with insects and other small animals killed and no human casualties reported.
- Project lead Munmuni Payeng and volunteers reached the area by boat and spent hours cutting fire lines and beating back flames with branches before bringing the blaze under control.
- Family members and supporters alleged the fire was deliberately set, and Congress leaders cited a possible sand‑mining nexus while demanding licence cancellations, a judicial inquiry and added protection.
- Molai Kathoni 2.0, launched in 2022 to stabilise fragile Brahmaputra sandbars, is part of a wider community effort that organisers say has planted over one million saplings across roughly 1,300 hectares.