Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The Sundarbans at a glance



The Sundarbans at a glance
By dr.fourkan Ali
Worlds biggest single mangrove forest -- the Sundarbans - is a unique reservoir of biodiversity. The forest is five thousand three hundred years old,

Geographical location: Sixty-two percent of the Sundarbans is in Bangladesh and the rest 58 percent is in West Bengal in India, This forest is situated between 890 and 89.550 north latitude.

To the north of the Sundarbans are Shyamnagar Upazila in Satkhira district, Kaira and Dakope Upazilas in Khulna district and Morelganj and Sarankhola in Bagerhat district, to the east is Mathbaria Upazila in Pirozepur district, to the west is the Indian portion of the Sundarbans and to the South lays the Bay of Bengal. Not to speak of the eighteenth century, even at the beginning of the nineteenth century the Sundarbans extended up to the suburbs of Kolkata city.

Area/ Extent: The area of the Sundarbans is about five lakh 77 thousand 285 hectares, in kilometers 10 thousand square kilometers. Of this, 5,800 square kilometers is in Bangladesh. The forest area is 4 lakh 1600 hectares and rivers and canals occupy one lakh 75 thousand 685 hectares. For convenience of administration, the Sundarbans has been divided into 55 pans known as compartments. This mangrove forest is 4.2 per cent of the total area of Bangladesh and 44 per cent of the total forestland in the country.

Climate: Average annual rainfall in the Sundarbans is 2,000 millimeters. Hottest months are April and May and the coldest is January.

Soil and water: The Sundarbans soil is alluvial loam. PH in the soil is between 5.4 and 7.8. Water is mainly saline. There are 102 islands in the Sundarbans area, of which some S8 are inhabited. Soil in the Sundarbans is very fertile. But the degree of salinity is not constant in the soil and water of this forest. The degree of salinity varies from year to year and from season to season. This has a negative effect. However
                           

the general tendency is that salinity is increasing. This increase in salinity is a serious threat to the environment and habitation in the Sundarbans. `

‘Some observation on the rivers of the Sundarbans and salinity` said increase in salinity has become an obstacle to natural growth and spread of flora and fauna in the Sundarbans. If one moves from east to west one will find the condition of Sundari trees is deteriorating day by day They feared that if the trend of increase in salinity remains uninterrupted, then quite a few species of trees including Sundari and goran may vanish in the near future. Salinity may also cause some species of animals to vanish gradually.

Rivers: There are rivers and canals spread across this forest like a net with their innumerable branches. Nearly 450 large and small rivers occupy about one lakh 75 thousands 685 hectares or about 50 per cent of the Sundarbans. The biggest river is the Pusur. Other rivers worth-mention are Baleswar, Sibsa, Arpangasia, Bhola, Horinbhanga Kalindi, Andharmanik, Raimangal, Kapotakssha, Koira, Shela Bhadra etc. As one proceeds to the south, the rivers widen. Some rivers are so wide that one can not see one bank from the other. Baleswar and Pusur rivers and their tributaries and distributaries are connected with the Ganges. As a result, these rivers and their branches have flow of sweet water: The Sibsa and other rivers in the western part have their source of sweet water only in the Ganges and the northern portion of the Sundarbans depends upon the rain water As a result, the sweet water flow in these rivers decreases during the dry season when there is a massive intrusion of saline water: Moreover the condition of the rivers and canals in the Sundarbans is deteriorating. Shoals are forming and navigability is declining. River erosion is taking place at some places.

Forest, forest fauna and fish: Of the total area of the Sundarbans, some 5,230,540 hectares comprises classified forests and about 26,807 hectares unclassified forest. Of all the trees in this forest, 64 per cent is sundari and 36 per cent is gewa, goran, golpata keora, dhundul and various other kinds of tree. Though there are innumerable trees in the Sundarbans, actual fruit-bearing trees are rare. Fruits borne by certain trees are unfit for human consumption. The trees here are 30 to 60 feet tall but they are less bulky. There are 49 species of mammals, 315 species of birds, 53 species of reptiles, 8 species of amphibians and more than 120 species of fish available in the forest. The main attractions of this forest are the Royal Bengal Tiger; deer and crocodiles. Though the Bangladesh portion of the forest is generally supposed to have 450 tigers, experts believe that their actual number is more or less 200.

Productivity: Productivity of the Sundarbans is 1.12 cubic meter per hectare per year which is the lowest among the mangrove forests in the world. And productivity is reducing day by day because all kinds of flora and fauna, including trees, fish and birds, are decreasing.

World heritage: Considering the importance of preserving bio-diversity of the Sundarbans, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had on December 6, 1997, declared this forest as the 798th world heritage site. Under the world heritage site is 159,700 hectares area of the eastern, southern and western sanctuari of the Sundarbans. The southern sanctuary is constituted with the compartment nos. 45 and 4/t, Sundarbans east sanctuary with compartment nos. 4, 5 and 6 part of compartment no. 7 and Sundarbans west sanctuary with compartment nos. 55, 54 and S5 part of compartment no 49,

People’s dependence: There is no correct statistics on how many people are dependent on this forest. A rough estimate says that 50,000 people enter the Sundarbans daily to extract resources for their livelihood. During the dry season, this figure becomes double. The Sundarbans is like a natural shield for the thousands of people of the south-western coastal areas of the country. For centuries, this forest has been protecting people in the coastal belt from the onslaughts of cyclones and tidal surges. During the last century 17 disastrous cyclones had struck the area along the Sundarbans. But due to the vast expanse of the Sundarbans forest, those storms could not cause much damage on the coastal habitations.

New danger: As it is, the Sundarbans is vanishing little by little, day after day due to human encroachment. With this two more threats have been added. The Sundarbans is being brought under oil and gas exploration and plans are afoot to set up a nuclear power station in the Indian portion of the forest. These are causing a new concern with regard to the future of this ancient mangrove forest.

Dr.Fourkan Ali
Mob: 01711579267




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