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
Email- dr.fourkanali@gmail.com
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