1 in 10 Sunderbans tigers man-eater

Subhro Niyogi, TNN, Aug 25, 2010, 01.18am IST

KOLKATA: Bangladeshi tiger researcher Monirul H Khan believes the hostile terrain of the Sunderbans is breeding man-eaters and fears the ratio may increase as it becomes a part of the Royal Bengal's genes.

"One in every 10 tigers that inhabit the Sunderbans is a man-eater. That is the estimation on the Bangladeshi side where 50 people are mauled and eaten by tigers every year. As people fall prey and young cubs, too, feed on human carcass, more tigers will become man-eaters in the future. The only way out is to stop entry of villagers into tiger territory in the core of the forest," Khan said.

The official figure of deaths is much lower as the government only takes into account casualties against the number of entry passes.

While the forest department in Bangladesh claims there are around 400 tigers in the eastern section of the Sunderbans covering 5,770 sq km, Khan says the real figure is half as much. If one goes by his count, based on camera-trapping, relative density and pray density rather than pug marks), there are at least 20 man-eaters in the Bangladeshi section of the Sunderbans.

In the western part that lies in West Bengal, the number of man-eaters would be similar since as many people die each year when villagers enter the forest to collect honey and cut wood. "The man-tiger conflict happens only when people enter the core area. The tiger kills to protect its territory. Unlike in other forests where only tigers that are incapacitated by age or injury turn to prey on man, in the mangrove forests, even healthy tigers turn man-eaters," he said.

Unlike the Sunderbans in West Bengal, across the border tigers get killed by men when they stray into human habitation.

"Every year, around two-three tigers die when they stray into villages. There is no system of tranquilizing and capturing tigers for release in the wilderness unlike the practice here," Khan said, adding that awareness on tiger conservation was low and forest department resources poor.

Khan has through research devised a means to discourage tiger straying by forming vigil teams comprising 15 men and five dogs that receive intensive training to ward off tigers.

In the city to attend a symposium organized by Bengal Tiger Bachaao on man-tiger conflict, Khan felt forest officials on both sides could liaison better to exchange learning and ideas.

"There is a need for greater cooperation to stop poachers and smugglers because they tend to slink away to the other side after the crime. If foresters on both sides act in unison, poaching can be curbed to a great extent," Khan reasoned.

Sunderbans tigers' prey ‘die of shock'

THE HINDU, KOLKATA, August 21, 2010:  Six spotted deer from a herd of 25 that was being moved from the Bibhuti Bhushan Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district to supplement the prey base of the Sunderbans tiger died early on Thursday morning.

A “post-mortem” will be carried out and it seems they died of “shock” experienced during transportation, Sunderbans Tiger Reserve field director Subrat Mukherjee told The Hindu over telephone.

The herd was being brought to the Deer Acclimatisation Centre in Dobaki. Here they would be constantly monitored before being released in the wild — over a distance of about 200 km, Mr. Mukherjee said.

“There was a delay at a place where the road was severely damaged. The deer had to be shifted from the trucks onto tractors, and then moved back onto the trucks, which took considerable time. It is possible they experienced some trauma then.”

“While three were found dead on arrival, three others were alive. But we could not do much.”

Such occurrences are not uncommon, as spotted deer were delicate animals, Sunderban Biosphere Reserve director Pradeep Vyas said.

Transferring the deer into the wild was essential as several facilities where the animals were being kept were overcrowded.

“The Bibhuti Bhushan Wildlife Sanctuary has nearly 450 spotted deer, whereas it has a capacity to accommodate only 150 deer,” Mr. Vyas said.

The Alipore Zoological Garden in the city is facing similar problems. It had decided to relocate about 60 deer to the Sunderbans. However, it may be deferred for some time.

“The proposal has been sanctioned by Chief Wildlife Warden S. B. Mondal, but we shall have to proceed slowly in this matter. We have to ensure that such incidents are reduced to a minimum,” Mr. Vyas said.

West Bengal signs tripartite pact for tiger conservation

KOLKATA: After some initial objection, West Bengal government has signed a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the tiger reserves in the state for better conservation of the big cats. Subrat Mukherjee, field director, Sunderbans Tiger Reserve and his counterpart in Buxa Tiger Reserve R P Seni, who were authorised by the state government, signed an MoU with the National Tiger Conservation Authority yesterday.

Chief Wildlife Warden (wildlife) S B Mondol told PTI here today that earlier the state government signed an agreement with the Centre for tiger conservation. Now it has been replaced by the tripartite pact between the state government, NTCA and field directors of tiger reserves.He said the state had earlier opposed the signing of the pact, arguing it was not necessary as the state has a good record in conservation of the wildlife.

The state government will get funds following signing of the pact."Earlier also we got funds for tiger conservation. Since last year we had been requesting the Centre for increasing the quantum." Mondol said that the state had received Rs 1.5 crore last year from the Centre for conservation of tigers. This year the state had requested for doubling of the amount, he said.

Buddhadeb seeks funds for 'Sunderbans Chinese wall'

Kolkata:June 14, 2009 -Bengal wants Rs 15,000 crore to protect the area from cyclones and high tides. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will seek Rs 15,000 crore from the Centre for building a “mini Chinese Wall” along the coastal area of the Sundarbans to protect the area’s 4.1 million people from further cyclones and high tides. The area was recently hit by cyclone Aila.

The chief minister is scheduled to meet the prime minister on June 19 in New Delhi where he will seek the grant. The plan is to build a concrete wall and embankments. Two days ago, state Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta had met Home Minister P Chidambaram and sought Rs 10,000 crore for the project. After making several visits to the Sundarbans, the chief minister decided to raise the demand to Rs 15,000 crore.

Kanti Ganguly, the minister in charge of the Sundarbans, said this was a preliminary estimate and might rise. There are over 3,500-km embankments on various rivers in the Sundarbans, of which at least 400 km were destroyed by Aila and the high tide that followed. Ganguly told Business Standard that the entire stretch of 3,500-km riversides would not need concrete embankments.

Experts who examined the area after the devastation had said that there should be three lines of defence. The first line, exposed to the sea, should consist of mangrove rings, they said. It was noticed that the islands where mangroves were in abundance did not face the kind of devastation that visited other areas. The second line should be embankments and the third should be trees natural to the climate and soil of the Sundarbans, they said.

Prof Anandadev Mukhopadhyaya, an eminent oceanologist who has been conducting extensive studies in the Digha-Shankarpur coastline area that falls within the cyclone-hit zone, says construction of the concrete wall or embankments will go a long way in protecting the coastal area. He feels the mangrove belt is a must to protect the islands.The area is suffering from an acute shortage of drinking water, food and houses. According to Ganguly, more than 150,000 houses have been partly or fully destroyed by the cyclone. He said that after the cyclone, sea water entered the villages and seeped in a large number of mud houses. These houses, he said, might not last the coming monsoon.

Now, plastic floods the Sundarbans

KOLKATA, 10th June: Post-cyclone Aila, the ecologically fragile Sundarbans in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal is facing another problem — flooding of plastic materials.

Hundreds of non-governmental organisations and private donors, who throng the area to provide relief, are dumping plastic covers, cups and wrappers in water, thus choking rivers. A world heritage site, the Sundarbans has long been declared a plastic-free zone. Yet, tonnes of plastic waste strewn around by volunteers are floating in rivers.

In the absence of government guidelines and as relief distribution has not been coordinated, enthusiastic NGOs have poured into the affected sites with food packets, drinking water sachets and even clothes wrapped in plastic covers.

“We cannot stop the NGOs from carrying on the relief work in this hour of crisis and it is also not possible to keep a check on everyone. All that we can do now is to sensitise them to the plastic menace through the media and ask them not to litter the region with plastic waste,” N.C. Bahuguna, Director of the Sundarbans Forest Reserve, told The Hindu on Monday.

Mr. Bahuguna said he was trying to take up the matter with higher authorities. As Forest department staff themselves were pressed into service to provide relief, it would take some time before any concrete result appeared, he pointed out. “Once water recedes and the situation comes under control somewhat, we will launch a massive clean-up drive.”

This would, however, take months to be completed, said a forest official. According to him, though cleaning up the peripheral areas would be easier, it was impossible to retrieve plastic waste washed into the core area by high tides and this could pose an ecological hazard for both flora and fauna on the islands of the estuarine delta.

Power system collapses after Aila in Sunderbans

Kolkata June 08, 2009: Cyclone Aila which hit West Bengal on May 25, has devastated the entire solar panel set-up in the Sunderbans island, leaving the island completely bereft of electricity.

It is to be noted that the islands of Sunderbans at present do not have any access to grid connectivity and solely depend on solar, biomass and renewable energy sources. Solar power has emerged as the primary source of electrification in most of the inhabited islands in Sunderbans.

“The state government is reviewing the extent of damage.Preliminary estimates suggest that 40 per cent of the household solar power installations have been damaged. As per WBGEDCL's estimate the quantum of damage is likely to be around Rs 50 crore.

Rehabilitation work has started, but it will take some time to repair the damage caused," said S P Gon Chaudhuri, managing director, West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Limited (WBGEDCL) on the sidelines of an interactive seminar organised by Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

WBGEDCL, the state nodal agency for promoting use of renewable energy sources, in association with the centre and state rural development department had set up one lakh household solar power installations or solar-powered home lighting systems in Sunderbans area. The largest cluster of solar power system in the country is in the Sunderban islands of which 40 per cent have been damaged now, Gon Chaudhuri informed. The cyclone has washed away or destroyed close to 40,000 solar panels. This apart the storm had damaged 21 clusters of solar and biomass power hubs which supplied electricity to around 10,000 households there.

“The power clusters have been repaired, but the individual house solar panels or the home lighting system is yet to be complete. It will need some more time,”said Gon Chaudhuri.

A large number of villages and islands — which are located on the fringes of the core forest area will remain in darkness unless steps are taken on a war-footing to restore electricity there.

“We will suggest to the government to incorporate new low-cost technologies by which these houses in the coastal areas can both get power through renewable sources and at the same time be rigid and resilient to climate changes and disasters. There are lots of technologies. We will help with the technical input,” said Gon Chaudhuri.

Environmentalists worry about wildlife in Sunderbans

KOLKATA, 5th JUNE: Environmentalists are worried of the devastation caused by Cyclone Aila to wildlife, particularly tigers, in the Sunderbans, which stretches over a vast area in South and North 24 Parganas districts.

Forest officials, though, have not confirmed how many animals persished due to it."Some animals might have lost their lives in the cyclone. But we don't know how many were killed," West Bengal Forest minister Ananta Roy said. "We have ordered a survey to be completed by June 15 to determine the number of animals which may have been killed," he said.

Top forest department officials, however, claimed that the storm did not cause much damage to the forest."Wildlife, including tigers, were not much affected as the mangrove withstood the ferocity of the cyclone, though carcasses of two deers were recovered," Field Director of Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (STR), Subrata Mukherjee told PTI.

He said that forest department teams which visited the forest after the cyclone did not come across much damage. Director of Sunderbans Biosphere reserve N C Bahuguna confirmed the death of five deers, but said other wildlife was safe.

Asked whether there was a possibility of some wildlife being washed away following inundation after the cyclone, Mr. Bahuguna said, "The forest is intact. Every year most areas in Sunderbans experience inundation and wild animals are accustomed to such conditions." A tiger, he said, had strayed at Jamespur immediately after the storm, but forest department personnel had sent it back to the forest. Mr. Bahuguna said the wild animals must have taken shelter on higher reaches in the forest during the storm.

NGOs and environmentalists working in the Sunderbans, however, apprehended otherwise. Raja Chatterjee, secretary of The Junglees questioned how forest officials could claim that wildlife was not hit by the cyclone. "Tigers in the Sunderbans are expert in climbing trees and might have taken refuge there or might have reached higher areas. Fishing cats and jungle cats can even survive on trees.

But what about deer and wild boars? In all likelihood they were affected," Mr. Chatterjee said.He said it was not possible to assess the damage in the Sunderbans which covered a huge area in such a short time and suggested a helicopter survey for a proper picture.

Ajanta Dey, project coordinator, Nature, Environment and Wildlife Society who visited Sunderbans after the cyclone, said that she found carcasses of livestock, but not of wild animals."But it is difficult to assess from outside whether wildlife was hit by the storm or not," she said.

Mangrove tigers

Cyclone Aila’s trail of destruction in India and Bangladesh has brought world attention to the plight of tens of thousands of people who spend their entire lives in the path of tropical storms. There is concern also for the Sundarbans, a vast landscape that weathers the same cyclones. As one of the world’s largest mangrove ecosystems, this region is unique in hosting endangered tigers.

Concern for these magnificent animals mounted when Aila struck, but scientists have been pointing out that they have probably fared better than people. After all, tigers enjoy the natural advantage of being excellent swimmers. It would take a detailed survey to assess if there have been serious losses but the only unusual post-cyclone event recorded so far has been that of a tiger rescued from a human dwelling.

The Sundarbans mangroves form part of global natural heritage. The composite 10,000 sq km spread of islands and tidal waterways are particularly rich in biodiversity, ranging from scores of birds to monitor lizards, river dolphins, spotted deer, macaques, and tigers. In a status report presented in 2008, India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority did not venture an estimate of the tiger population in the Sundarbans because of ongoing sampling work, but reported the presence of tigers in 1,586 sq km of the landscape. Bangladesh has declared about 1,000 sq km of the contiguous area on its side as wildlife sanctuaries. Reliable population sampling for the Sundarbans tigers is crucial as good baseline data are required for conservation effort.

Preserved ecosystems provide important benefits to communities. In the case of the Sundarbans, that is evident from the significant amount of honey and wax collected by villagers each year. The mangroves are also a rich breeding ground for fish and other sea food. What is clear is that the continued sustenance of the small communities in the more hospitable parts of the Sundarbans will depend on how quickly the major threats are mitigated.

The key factors that could damage this ecosystem are sea level changes and intensifying weather events linked to climate change, commercial-scale exploitation of forest produce, and physical elimination of mangroves in the name of land acquisition. If what some research scientists believe is true, loss of the mangroves would also mean removal of protection for inland human habitations from cyclones. The available evidence underscores the need for India and Bangladesh to create a strong bilateral framework to preserve the Sundarbans — a listed UNESCO world heritage site and a lifeline for coastal communities.

Sunderbans braces for double blow

KOLKATA, 5 Jun 2009: With just 72 hours to go for the dreaded high tide to hit the Aila-ravaged Sunderbans, the government went on a high alert on Thursday, evacuating people from six islands, stationing three ministers to oversee preparations and initiating steps to counter a possible inundation. Although no cyclone or squall warning has been issued by the meteorological department, satellite images showed a wide low-pressure area that could lead to rough weather.

The weather system formed over Gangetic West Bengal two days back and will lead to widespread rain over the next 48 hours. This will coincide with the bara kotal (full moon high tide) that is set to sweep into the islands on the night of June 6-7, raising the risk of further devastation. The Met department has sent a note to the government alerting them about the impending deluge. "There could be heavy rainfall over the next two days. But as of now, there is no indication of a storm or a squall," said G C Debnath, director of Alipore Meteorological Office.

After being caught off-guard by Aila, Writers' Buildings has ordered a huge bandobast for the bhara kotal. People are being evacuated from six islands Kumirmari, parts of Chhotomollakhali, Amtoli, Lahiripur, Satjelia and Kachukhali in Gosaba and parts of Patharpratima. The army and navy have already reached some of the islands, irrigation minister Subhas Naskar said. A hovercraft is being roped in and 75 mechanized boats are kept ready from the civil defence, National Calamity Reserve Force and the army, finance minister Asim Dasgupta said.

The relief centres have been alerted and preparations are being made in advance, with stocks of water and dry food. The message from chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has travelled quickly to the block level in Sunderbans. Reports of vulnerable points along the islands were sought. BDOs started compiling lists of probable rescue centres, stocks of relief material and items they need.

On direct orders from Bhattacharjee, three ministers Srikumar Mukherjee (civil defence), Kanti Ganguly (Sunderbans affairs) and Subhas Naskar (irrigation) have been stationed at Gosaba, Patharpratima and Hingalganj to take charge of affairs when the tide hits. Mukherjee said civil defence personnel have been dispatched and would reach their areas of deployment by Friday.

"They will be on 90 boats and carry 500 life jackets. All the men will be in uniform so that they can be easily identified," he said. According to the government, 940 points on the embankments have been breached but only 381 of them been repaired. "We are trying our best to prevent casualties this time. We don't want to add to the 137 death toll," said Mukherjee.

The irrigation minister, however, claimed 65% of the embankments have been repaired. "Unfortunately, the embankments will have to brave 10 more tides before proper repair work can be started," Naskar said, adding that they want to take the help of the central government's Ganga Flood Control Commission. Almost all mud houses in the Sunderbans need to be replaced and the Rs 27,000 allotted per house from the Indira Awas Yojna isn't enough, Naskar said. "At least 2.5 lakh pucca houses are needed."

Till Wednesday, a squall had seemed a distinct possibility, leading people to fear a repeat of the May 25 devastation. The latest weather reports dispel that fear but even heavy rains could be damaging. With embankments in the Sunderbans still weakened, another inundation cannot be ruled out, fear officials. An 11-member team from the Centre, headed by joint secretary (home) Ashok Lavasa, will visit the affected areas between June 7 and 9 to gauge the situation and assess the government's demand for Rs 1000-crore aid.

A team is also expected to visit Bangladesh to learn about preparation of permanent embankments. The local authorities deny there is an epidemic. They peg the number of affected at just 5%. "Around 6,000 patients have been diagnosed with diarrhoea in Gosaba. We have enough medicines and the situation is fast improving," claimed Gosaba medical officer Girin Mondol.

TO REPAIR EMBANKMENTS, GOVT. PLACED ORDER FOR 15 LAKH GUNNY BAGS

Kolkata,5th June : In the wake of Cyclone Aila, the state government has roped in Reliance Industries to repair the breaches of Sunderbans embankments. It has placed an order of 15 lakh gunny bags from the Mukesh Ambani-owned company to repair 800 points along the 470-km-long embankment that has caused large-scale inundation of the area.

At Rs 7.22 per bag, the cost for the consignment will stand at about Rs 1 crore. The government will buy more gunny bags as it apprehends more breaches during the coming 10 kotals (high tides) till the year-end. “We have found Reliance gunny bags more durable and thus have placed the order,” Subhas Nashkar, State Minister for Irrigation, said on Thursday.

He added that in view of the bhora kotal (high tides) due on June 7 and 8 and the fresh depression looming over the Bay of Bengal, the state government has ordered the evacuation of around 25,000 people from six islands in both North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas. “Already, a large number of people have left on their own. We have asked remaining to do the same,” Nashkar said.

Personnel from the Army Engineering Corps and the Navy, who have been roped in for the project, have already begun work. Nashkar said the government plans to build brick-built houses for the people of Sunderbans. “We can use the money for Indira Awas Yojna, but I don’t think it will be adequate. So, we have to look for other avenues for money,” the minister said.

Low pressure areaEleven days after Aila hit the state, weather officials claimed a low pressure area is likely to form over the north of Bay of Bengal in the next 48 hours. However, no warning has been issued by the Regional Meteorological Office in this connection.

“Though we have not sent out any warning, we are passing the information to the government. It is too early to predict anything. The place where the depression is being formed is a little far from the mainland. We have to monitor how it is developing,” said G C Debnath, Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Alipore.

According to the officials, there is a possibility of rainfall over the Gangetic West Bengal till Friday noon. With the high tide on full moon set to hit the Sunderbans on June 7, large-scale inundation is being feared. If the low pressure develops further, there is a possibility of rainfall and storm. Thus, the state administration is trying to complete work on the embankments in Sunderbans as soon as possible.

Satellite images show the rotation and moisture content of the cloud clusters steadily increasing, resulting in probable formation of thunderclouds. However, with a few days to go, the clouds might weaken too. Though officials claimed a cyclone is unlikely, the fact remains that even a storm could be damaging during the high tide with the Sunderbans remaining vulnerable.

WEST BENGAL TOURISM RELEASES BENGAL TRAVEL GUIDE

WBTDC to upgrade lodges in West Bengal

KOLKATA, 4th June: The first official travel guide on Kolkata was released yesterday by Manab Mukherjee, Tourism Minister, Kolkata. The book provides exhaustive information on most tourist destinations with their history, from Sunderbans to Bishnupur, Murshidabad, Dooars and Darjeeling. Mukherjee also informed that the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) is now in the process of upgrading tourist lodges and renovating its water vessels. Nine lodges are being upgraded to three-star standards. Work is complete at Digha, Shantiniketan and Bishnupur.

According to a report in Times of India, WBTDC has also decided to introduce integrated package tours in the next three months.“So far, we did not have a travel guide. Let us hope this turns out to be the first step towards restructuring our tourism facilities and infrastructure,” said Mukherjee. Apart from listing destinations, the travel guide also mentions the routes and transportation available. “I had to travel extensively for the book. The facilities have improved vastly and the state can definitely be marketed as a prime tourist location,” said Swati Mitra, who compiled the guide. WBTDC has also planned tourism plazas that will be developed by the government. “Despite the recession, the flow of tourists to Bengal has remained largely unaffected,” added Mukherjee. The tourism department will appoint consultants to promote West Bengal.

Tourism not affected by ‘Aila’

“Tourism in West Bengal has not really been affected by Aila,” State Tourism Minister Manabendra Mukherjee said here on Wednesday.

He said this at an event organised to update the press on the latest initiatives of the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC). Mr. Mukherjee said there weren’t many tourists in the area since this is not the season in Sunderbans, the region worst affected by the cyclone.

Sajnekhali, the only government tourist lodge in the area, did sustain some damage but plans were on to renovate the lodge in any case, he said.

“In Darjeeling, there were many tourists, but the major link roads had been cleared of the debris within 48 hours of the landslides so tourists didn’t suffer much.”

Asked whether enough was being done to promote Sunderbans, he said the region was ecologically fragile and must be approached with precaution.

Buddhadeb urges Sundarbans locals to re-build damaged embankments

Kolkata, June 1: Paying a visit to the cyclone-ravaged areas of coastal West Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Tuesday proposed that residents of various islands in the Sundarbans help rebuild the embankments damaged by Cyclone Aila. They would be paid for the work they do, he said.

“More than 400 km of embankments have been totally damaged in the devastating cyclone. We ask the people to join hands immediately and rebuild the embankments before the coming high tide next week,” Bhattacharjee said at a press conference at Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas district.

“If we can involve a large number of people in the process, we’ll be able to stop at least 70-80 percent of water during the high tide. We’ve decided that the entire work for rebuilding the embankment would be carried out by the villagers. The government will pay them for their efforts. The engineers will just give instructions,” he said.

Bhattacharjee Tuesday visited several cyclone-ravaged areas of North 24 Parganas district. Besides Hingalganj, he went to Hasanabad, Sandeshkhali and Basirhat area that were hit by Cyclone Aila last week.

“We’re not getting enough soil to use for rebuilding the embankments. This is the major problem we’re facing now. But the government is trying to procure adequate soil,” the chief minister said, adding that the relief materials are reaching remote parts of the Sundarbans. He also said the state government is in talks with the centre on how to provide succour to the impoverished.

“We’ve sent our memorandum to the centre listing our demands for carrying out the relief operation in the Sundarbans. I also had talks with the union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee this morning (Tuesday) and will also give him a detailed feedback later.

“Our Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta will also hold meetings with Mukherjee and the union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the matter,” he said.

West Bengal to rebuild 400 km embankments in Sundarbans

KOLKATA, 30 May: The West Bengal government will rebuild 400 kms of embankments destroyed by Cyclone Aila in the mangrove forests of Sundarbans in an effort to save the region from any more floods in the coming monsoon.  "We'll start constructing 400 kms of embankments in Sundarbans and will try to finish the work within the next one week," state Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar said after surveying the cyclone-hit villages in the Sundarbans on Saturday.  He said that nearly 350 km of embankments had been destroyed in South 24-Parganas due to cyclone Aila and another 50 km in the neighbouring North 24-Parganas district.  "We'll at least try to temporarily develop the damaged embankments in Sundarbans to save the local population from a flood-like situation," Naskar said.  Hundreds of villages in the two districts continued to be marooned, with saltwater intrusion destroying the paddy crop and rendering vast stretches of land fallow in the Sundarbans area in the aftermath of the cyclone. The officials have confirmed 117 deaths so far.  The floods also washed away seeds, killed livestock and wiped out all stocks of freshwater fish and shrimp.

Cyclone Aila swallows Sunderbans tigers

KOLKATA, 27th May: It's not just residents of Kolkata who bore the brunt of Cyclone Aila. Forest wardens fear that as the cyclone tore through the Sunderbans flooding the mangrove forests, it may have killed more than a dozen of the highly endangered Bengal tigers.

As the human toll from Monday's cyclone rose to 64, beat officers and range officials in the Sunderbans feared hundreds of herbivores and at least a dozen tigers might have been swept away by the giant waves that lashed the forests. While a tiger had sneaked into the Jamespur village wading through the flood waters and was tranquillised early on Tuesday morning, 20 crocodiles and two spotted deer were found dead. The full extent of the damage will be known only after an assessment by forest teams.

As per the last census, the Sunderbans had 265 tigers. Pintu Mirdha of Jamespur got the shock of his life when he spotted a male tiger crouching in his waterlogged cowshed. Mirdha managed to shut the cowshed door and informed the forest department. But forest guards had to wait for the water to recede to get close to the animal. Neighbours were asked to evacuate as the animal paced up and down the locked cowshed. At around 1pm, when the water level went down during low tide, the male tiger was tranquillised.

"It swam into the village that was left flooded after the cyclone. Since most villagers weren't present at the submerged huts, no one noticed the animal," said Subrata Mukherjee, field director, Sunderban Tiger Reserve.

"A storm like this has never hit the Sunderbans in the last three decades. Going by the extent of damage to the villages, the state of the forest could be terrible. Forests remained under eight feet of water till late Tuesday afternoon. Immediately after Aila hit, it had gone up to 20 feet," said Mrinal Chattopadhyay of the Institute of Climbers and Nature Lovers. "Even if tigers manage to swim to higher grounds, deer and wild boars must have been swept away," he said. Wardens fear that even if tigers survived the giant waves, the lack of prey will certainly kill them.

But some forest officials were cautious. "We shall study the damage once the water level goes down," said Subhendu Bandopadhyay, divisional forest officer, South 24-Parganas. Beat wardens, however, said no assessment would be possible until the waters recede and that could take weeks. By that time many of the carcasses would have disintegrated to nothing.

Buddha ready to lend a hand and land to Pachauri

West Bengal to have branch of green think tank

Kolkata, Feb 20, 2009: West Bengal is all set to get a research centre dealing with climate-related issues under the guidance of Nobel laureate R K Pachauri. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) will be starting its Kolkata chapter as soon as the state government allots land for the project.

“We will be setting up an institute to look into the prospects of bio fuel, renewable energy and create more energy-efficient buildings in the state,” Dr Pachauri said. He said about five acres of land will be required for the institute.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said: “West Bengal has been working closely with Dr Pachauri for a long time now. We will be happy to give them land at Baruipur to set up their institute.” The chief minister and Dr Pachauri were speaking on the sidelines of an environment summit at a city hotel on Thursday.

TERI is already working on a project on the Sunderbans delta, a fragile ecosystem now threatened by rising sea-levels. “West Bengal has a delta as well as snow capped mountains and thus, the effects of climate change here, will also be equally diverse,” said Dr Pachauri.

The study, which is partly sponsored by the West Bengal government, will take another year for completion. “We are already working in the Sunderban region and would like to extend our study to the entire state,” he added.

According to Dr Pachauri, one of the major environmental challenges in the state is that 94 per cent of Bengal’s power comes from thermal sources. “We need to form a strategy and develop alternative sources of energy for the state,” he said.

Bhattacharjee also stressed on the fact that auto emissions, drinking water, medical wastes and depletion of greenery and water bodies were the major challenges facing the state. “We need to move away from petrol and diesel — towards bio fuel and electricity-run vehicles,” he said.

Earlier, Dr Pachauri had launched a scheme for green-rating of environment-friendly buildings in the city. This rating, being introduced for residential as well as corporate buildings, would be given by the TERI in partnership with the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Green Power Corporation, the corporate entity of the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency, which is headed by S.P. Gonchaudhuri.

Tiger attacks in Sundarbans send wake-up call

KOLKATA: Man is not a natural prey for big cats, but tigers in the Sundarbans in West Bengal are increasingly sneaking out of the dense mangrove forests and attacking humans, prompting the government to finally wake up to the warning signals. An expert committee will be set up to monitor the activities of maneaters, as such big cats are called.


It will try to find out why the tigers are attacking villagers - officially, there have been at least six such cases in the past year, but many more are suspected to have gone unrecorded.It will also suggest steps to prevent such crises.According to top sources in the Sundarbans development affairs department, the proposal to form the expert committee was placed before Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee last week during a meeting with the Sundarbans board.


'The committee will comprise senior officials from the state environment and Sundarbans development affairs departments. This apart, several wildlife experts, especially those who deal with tiger-related issues, will be included. The blueprint is ready and it's with the chief minister now,' a top state government source said on condition of anonymity. 'The committee will monitor why the tigers are often coming out of their core forest belt and attacking humans. If there's any dearth in the food chain, the expert team will also try to find that out after a detailed survey. 'We expect the committee to be formed shortly and it'll start functioning this month,' he said, adding the team might be headed by state chief secretary Ashok Mohon Chakraborty.'A few names have already been suggested but those are not yet finalised,' the official added.According to sources, the team may have experts from the Zoological Survey of India, representatives from the Wildlife Institute of India and faculty members of Calcutta University's zoological department.


Admitting that the number of tiger attacks has seen a sharp increase in the past one year, state Sundarbans Affairs Minister Kanti Ganguly said: 'We've not seen such a rise in the past 25 years'.In India alone, the Sundarbans has a vast area covering 4,262 sq km, including a 2,125 sq km maze of mangrove forests, creeks and tidal rivers. A larger portion of the forest is in neighbouring Bangladesh. There are many villages within this area, with the local population largely dependent on the forest to earn a living, thus triggering a conflict with animals.Shrinking habitat due to climate change and cyclone Sidr, which left behind a trail of devastation in 2007, forced many a Royal Bengal tiger to migrate from Bangladesh into the Indian side of the Sundarbans island.


Wildlife experts say a good number of tigers might have come into the Indian forests in search of food.Reports came Saturday that a fisherman, Gouranga Das, went missing at Jharkhali after he went to the Matla river to catch crabs. Das was cooking his meal on a small boat when a tiger jumped upon the boat and dragged him into the forest.A few pug marks were also spotted Friday evening near Gosaba village in the Sundarbans, triggering panic among villagers. District forest department officials were informed and searched the area, to no avail. Three people - including a girl and a forest official - were injured when a tiger entered Deulbari village near Kultali in South 24 Pargans district, about 110 km from here, in the last week of December. The tiger was later captured by forest officials.Another injured tiger that strayed into a village in the Sundarbans Dec 31 was taken to Kolkata for medical treatment.


'In the past year, at least six people were killed in tiger attacks in the Sundarbans,' Ganguly said. 'Generally what happens is that many people enter Sundarbans creeks without any permit. 'And when they are attacked, their family members don't lodge any complaint with the police. So naturally, we don't get to know the exact figure of how many people are actually killed in tiger attacks in Sundarbans every year.' 'We've also seen a sea change in the behaviour of the Sundarban tigers.


Now they are fearlessly entering nearby villages and attacking people,' the minister said.He said the state government was planning pig farming in Sundarbans to provide adequate food to the man-eaters and stop growing tiger intrusion in the locality.The Sundarbans forest is the world's largest mangrove reserve, recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Sunderbans, Ganges in 7 Natural Wonders list

KOLKATA,13th November, 2008: Sunderbans, world’s largest mangrove forest located between Bangladesh and West Bengal, and the Ganges River are competing with some gorgeous natural heritage sites across the globe for the seven Wonders of Nature list.

Famous for its breathtaking beauty and the Royal Bengal Tiger, Sunderbans forest has carved a niche for itself when the mangrove was selected by New Seven Wonders Foundation after the selection of seven new wonders of the world last year, which included Taj Mahal.

Lying in the mouth of the holy Ganges, the Sunderban delta is composed of mangrove forests, swamps and forest island all interwoven in a network of small rivers and streams. It covers an area of approximately 10,000 square kilometers.

Altogether 400 places from different continents have been nominated primarily in the seven wonders nomination process which include 51 places (highest number of places) from South America, 31 Europe, 30 Asia, 27 North America, 19 Africa and 10 Oceania.

Voting is continuing through internet. “It is so exciting that out of 400 places which have been nominated primarily in the seven wonders nomination process, Sundarban and Ganges are on leading positions at this moment for Asia region,” an expert on Sunderbans afair reacted.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee cast his vote here at the Writers’ Buildings recently on the website www.new7wonders.com to nominate the Sunderbans and the holy Ganges as two of the seven ‘Global Wonders of Nature’.

Tushar Kanjilal, secretary of Tagore society for Rural Development, was also present at the state secretariat along with Sunderbans Development Minister Kanti Ganguly and Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar.

“The Chief Minister took the first step and we request people from both West Bengal and across the country to vote for the Sunderbans and the Ganges to enlist them in the seven new natural wonders’ list. These are multinational nominees and it needs both India and Bangladesh to officially support it,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly said, “We have already formed a supporting committee to champion the cause and we are trying to promote it in a manner to appeal to people in India and Bangladesh to vote for these two heritage sites. In fact three because Cox’s Bazar beach, the largest sea beach of the world, has also found place in the nominated site out of 158 natural places of the world so far.”

The global voting platform, which is conducting the poll, is promoted by the New Seven Wonders Foundation that included the Taj Mahal in its list of seven man-made wonders last year. The foundation was set up by Swiss-born Canadian film maker-explorer Bernard Weber. The platform selects the wonders on the basis of nomination committees in each country and only one nomination from each country is finalised in the last lap of the race.

The Ganges was at the seventh position, while the Sunderbans was tenth, as per current voting on the website. The voting will continue throughout 2010 and into 2011 when the results will be declared. Ganguly further said a nomination committee from Bangladesh had approached the state government to support the Sunderbans, as the forest cover vast areas of both India and Bangladesh.

“I know the process and we have yet to see many ups and downs in the position so far but if we all keep on voting for Sundarbans, Ganges and Cox’s Bazar, we should be in good standing till the end. Voting in the internet is fun and it should be more fun doing it for our heritage sites,” said student of Calcutta University Divya Malik.

“Everyone must log on to the following link and cast their valuable votes to earn the title for natural wonders. That way we will be able to boast of another Wonders of the Modern World, the first one was the Taj Mahal,” said an elated college student.

The Sundarbans features a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests. The area is known for its wide range of fauna, with the Royal Bengal tiger being the most famous, but also including many species of birds, spotted deer, crocodiles and snakes.

It is already a UNESCO World Heritage site and was designated a Ramsar site on May 21, 1992. It was also nominated as one of the New seven Wonders of the world, along Taj though didn't make to the final 14.Some other prominent natural heritage sites in the race include Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Phillipines, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, Chocolate Hills in Phillipines, Al-Ahsa Oasis in Saudi Arabia, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National park in Vietnam and Fansipan Mountain in Vietnam.