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They save people from cyclones, but who is saving the Sunderbans mangroves?
Why in news?
- On November 9, 2019, when the very severe cyclone Bulbul made landfall at Sagar island in the Indian Sunderbans, a group of tourists found themselves stranded near the Kalash island in the violently inclement weather. They escaped unhurt after they took shelter in mangrove creeks. The cyclone was so powerful that it overturned a large fishing trawler near Sagar; people in that vessel are still missing.
More in news
- From environmental experts to the State’s Chief Minister observed that,:
(1) The mangroves had saved the Sunderbans from the gusty winds blowing at between 110 kmph to 135 kmph.
(2) It would have been a disaster if mangroves had not been there.
(3) CM Mamata Banerjee, while touring the affected regions, noted that the State will plant more mangroves.
- Inhabited areas at risk
(1) Scientists, wildlife experts and local NGOs have been highlighting the constant degradation of the mangrove forest in the Sunderbans, particularly in areas that are inhabited.
- The Indian Sunderbans, considered to be an area south of the Dampier Hodges line, is spread over 9,630 sq. km., of which the mangrove forests are spread over 4,263 sq. km.
- NGT & Banglar Abas Scheme
(1) The latest example of an assault on mangrove forests came to light in an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dated September 23, when it directed a committee to inspect allegations levelled by environmental activist Subhas Datta that the State had allocated houses under the ‘Banglar Abas’ scheme by clearing acres of mangrove forest on Sagar island.
(2) Committee inspected & found allegations to be true: For years, the State government has been felling mangrove trees in the name of development,” and highlighted how Ms. Banerjee invited industrialists to the Sunderbans a few years ago and urged them to invest in ecotourism.
- Rapid destruction
(1) When the Activist moved NGT in 2014, a satellite image from the Indian Space Research Organisation pointed to a loss of 3.71% mangrove and non-mangrove forest cover along with massive erosion of the archipelago’s landmass.
(2) The analysis, based on satellite data of February 2003 and February 2014, shows that while a 9,990hectare landmass has been eroded, there has been an accretion of 216hectare landmass in the Sunderbans during the period.
- Why mangroves are cut?
- Mangroves have been cut not only for aquaculture, but also for building embankments and for human settlements.
- Pranabesh Maity, a resident of Sagar who planted over 30,000 mangrove saplings this year, said that there have been numerous instances in which mangroves have been cut for making roads, building embankments, and for fisheries.
Sources
The Hindu