Overview
- The blaze broke out around 11:25 a.m. Sunday on a newly formed sandbar near the Baghmara picnic spot in Majuli.
- Organizers said more than 5,000 trees were destroyed and reported deaths of birds and insects, with full official figures still awaited.
- Munmuni Payeng led volunteers and visiting students who crossed a 100‑metre‑wide channel and used branches to beat back the flames before containment.
- The Forest Department and Majuli administration contacted the team, opened inquiries and promised protective measures as a detailed assessment is planned.
- The Congress demanded cancellation of nearby sand‑mining licences and cited media reports of a sand mafia nexus, echoing family allegations that miscreants set the fire.