Guwahati, July 29: Top officials from the ministry of environment and forests will be coming to Assam on Sunday to prepare a follow-up plan to implement the directives of the World Heritage Committee on Manas and Kaziranga.

A source said additional director-general of forests (wildlife), ministry of environment and forests, Jagdish Kishwan would attend the meeting, along with officials from the Wildlife Institute of India and state forest department.

Some NGOs have also been called for the meeting.

Substantial work has to be done for Manas and Kaziranga, and plans will have to be made ready to be sent before February 1 to the World Heritage Committee for examination in the next meeting.

“The views of the state forest officials will be taken to implement the directives in the time required to carry out the task,” the source said.

He said the non-submission of the state of conservation report by the state forest department on Kaziranga National Park has put the authorities in a tight spot.

The World Heritage Committee had asked for the report in 2009.

The national park also did not submit an environmental impact assessment of the alternatives to the proposed upgrade of National Highway 37, which was requested in 2009.

“The main problem for Manas is for the tiger conservation foundation to get operational. This can be done only by the Centre, as it will have to get the approval of Parliament,” the source said.

The national park has always faced difficulties in getting sanctioned funds at its doorstep and the heritage committee has said sustained finance to the site remains a critical long-term requirement to ensure its full recovery.

There is a Supreme Court ruling which states that the state government must release funds within 15 days of receipt from the Centre but this has not been implemented in case of Manas.

The Centre will have to inform the heritage committee that operational and financial arrangements are in place by February next year to start the foundation.

“The directives will have to be implemented by next year; otherwise it will show us in a bad light. We have got back our glory through hard work and we should not lose it now,” the source said.

The forest department will have to submit a recovery plan for the eastern swamp deer and complete the reintroduction programme of the greater one-horned rhino in Manas.

A comprehensive tourism management plan will have to be chalked out in close co-operation with the local communities. Most of these measures are required to ensure the full recovery of the Outstanding Universal Value of the park.