LITTORAL FRINGE OF WEST BENGAL: THE SUNDARBAN

Ankita Siddhanta, International Institute For Population Sciences, India

Abstract

The sundarban along the littoral fringe of West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh is a UNESCO world heritage site and the largest mangrove forest in the world. It is an economically backward and disaster prone area. The geomorphology of the Sundarban contain mudflats and flat plains formed by extensive fluvioglacial deposits of the river Ganga. Some dune ridges are also found on the isolated islands of southern and western sundarban. Tidefed rivers like Saptamukhi, Thakuran, Matla, Gosaba and Harinbhanga form estuaries which cover about 2069 sq km of the area(approx).
The objective of the study is to check the land loss and loss of biodiversity in this largest wetland of the world and to develop and maintain the economy of the area.
The Sundarbans on the lower end of the Gangetic West Bengal, 22.00° N – 89.00° E, at an altitude 0-10 m above sea level originally measured to be of about 16,700 km²(about 200 years ago). Now the area has dwindled into about 1/3 of the original size.70%of this area is under saline water which create acute shortage of water for domestic as well as agricultural use.
The Hugli (which is the main river) estuary is acting as a sediment sink and is largely off setting the effects of rising sea level rise in terms of land loss. Evidences of land subsidence is not uncommon. This area is also threatened by  Anthropogenic impacts like reclamation, human encroachment and influence, conversion of mangrove tracts for aquaculture and agriculture as well as natural phenomena like severe cyclonic storms, tidal waves and rising of the sea level due to climate change and global warming. Around 680 million tons of untreated sewage goes into the sea including hazardous industrial waste and fertilizers, which is continuously encroaching this wetland.
The Sundarban Mangrove Forests has been the home for a wide biodiversity. It is natural habitat of many endangered species including the Royal Bengal tiger, Estuarine Crocodile, Gangetic Dolphin and many other species making it a biodiversity hot spot.
There is immense scope for development in this area and tourism could me a very profitable economic activity. It also has a high fishery potential. But there remains a problem of poor infrastructure and transportation since it is mostly separated by innumerable creeks and earthen embankments. Challenge lies in augmenting the development of the area on one hand and maintaining its endangered biodiversity on the other hand.