A DAY OF SUNDARBAN

A P Nagar Aikyatan (APNA) presents A day of Sundarban

SECRETARIAL PAGE

Sundarban is the largest delta of the world. It is the summation of 54 isolated areas. Climate change is an important issue nowadays. Various human activities are making the world hot to hotter. The ultimate result is global warming, that’s why climate change. Rising temperature in the atmosphere causes sea level rise and affects low lying coastal areas and deltas of the world. Sea level rise has various impacts on Sundarban, a coastal country facing the problems. It already has affected Sundarban by land erosion, salinity intrusion and loss in biodiversity. Its potential threats are coming even strongly in the future. Sea level rise will cause river bank erosion, salinity intrusion, flood, damage to infrastructures, crop failure, fisheries destruction, loss of biodiversity, etc. along this coast. A one-meter sea level rise (SLR) will affect the country’s vast coastal area and flood plain zone. It will affect Millennium Development goals, causing environmental refugees. Most vulnerable sectors to one meter sea level rise are coastal resources, water resources, agriculture and the ecosystem of Sundarban.

The main concept of sustainable Development is to meet the present needs without compromising the needs of the future generations (WCED, 1987). To ensure the supply of the future’s demand, development plan should be developed in such a way that consider the upcoming good, bad or worst scenarios. To reach that gateway to development, environmental hazards like sea level rise and its impacts should be face or may be handled carefully. Because development trains without considering environmental hazards and natural disasters may run to the other way. For example, The destruction-Count More than 200 people are reported dead and an estimated 3 million displaced from their homes after a high velocity cyclone (120kph) hit Southern Bengal on 25th May 2009 devastating thousands of life. Worst hit areas have been the islands of Sundarban. Cyclone Aila, unleashed a four-meter high tidal surge and flooded low-lying regions overflowing the embankments washing off thousands of households completely and making a landfall in Sundarbans and coastal areas of southern West Bengal. The coastal belt and river side villages were mostly affected and destroyed due to Aila. According to the Government of West Bengal estimate about 50 Lakes people are affected. ‘We lost every thing that mattered to us. Paddy that we cultivated last Kharif has been completely washed off. What will we depend on future? We are left with only this single saree (cloth) that we are wearing.’ This was the cry of the hour.

Now could have reduced number of death toll and economic loss significantly.

Sundarban is still carrying that loss by borrowing money from external sources like foreign aid or loans from the World Bank, pushing it back in terms of development. Sea level rise have various significant impacts on economy, environment and security of Sundarban and if these impacts are not integrated in the development plans, it will fail to attain sustainability. Thus, this study can help sustainable development of Sundarban by pointing out potential sea level rise impacts and some possible recommendations that could be coordinated with the development activities of this aria.  

The development of Sundarban area is still far away due to the tremendous geographical inertia. People are still suffering with their bread & butter due to the poverty. Sundarban is always facing the natural calamity. There have been many social evils in our society from the olden times. Many of them have been removed with the passage of times but many other are still remains much to our shame. One of such social evils is insecurity of development. As a result we saw the poachers in that area. There is no other way of earning apart from agriculture, though the soil is still undeveloped.

Education means all-round development of mind & body.  Maximum People are still far away from the light of education. The peoples are in the jaws of the hopeless fates.

Lots of people are living there life just bellow the poverty lines.

Sundarban is suffering with the medical facility. New born baby & the people who are suffering with the supper annotation, they are not getting the medical facility & medicine.

In Sundarban area’s another alarming problem is the acute crises of drinking water.

In some place people are using the solar power that is not sufficient for the people.

Above the circumstances it is our humble request to all to do something as quick as possible; otherwise we will not be able to stop the people of Sundarban from virtual extinction.