Jorhat, Sept. 8 :    Jorhat, Sept. 8:  Inhabitants of the world's largest river island of Majuli are fighting a losing battle against erosion, a realisation that has sparked a frantic scramble for land. The sense of desperation in the air is reflected in the number of land disputes on the island. Officials say the majority of cases registered at the three police stations in Majuli pertain to land ownership. 'Land is becoming more scarce with every passing day. Under the circumstances, no one wants to give away even an inch of land,' a police official posted at the Garmurh police station told The Telegraph today. Last night, one Binoy Baruah of Garmurh was killed by his brother Niranjan following a dispute over land. Police sources said Niranjan attacked Binoy with a sharp weapon, killing him on the spot. He was later arrested. Constant erosion by the Brahmaputra, also known as the 'red river,' has reduced Majuli's area from 1,200 square km in 1950 to approximately 800 square km today. Over the past couple of years, hundreds of families rendered homeless by floods have shifted to embankments and are subsisting on relief materials provided by the subdivisional administration. The pottery industry at Salmora, the only one on the island, is also on the verge of being wiped out. The Brahmaputra ate into a large portion of the area last year, forcing at least 20 families making a living out of pottery to shift to other places on the island. The Jorhat district administration has evacuated several families to the mainland and plans to continue the process. However, it failed in its attempt to settle 68 families at Panikheti on the Assam-Nagaland border in the district a couple of months back. These families had to return to Majuli as inhabitants of the areas close to Panikheti opposed the administration's move. Largescale erosion by the Brahmaputra has also forced some satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) on the island to shift elsewhere. Some invaluable manuscripts preserved in these satras were destroyed by floods in recent years. If there is hope for Majuli, it is in the move to get the island declared as a world heritage site. Officials believe there will be no dearth of funds to save the island once it is accorded the status of a heritage site. The Centre has also launched a project to preserve the ancient manuscripts belonging to the satras dotting the island.