Extreme Event, Anthropogenic Stress and Ecological Sustainability in Sundarban Islands

Abstract

For fifty four densely populated islands surrounding one of the World Heritage Site and a famous tiger reserve in the Ganges delta, called Sundarbans, the main occupations of the residents has been agriculture and catching fish and crab in the delta waters. Cyclone Aila in 2009 had destroyed the islands’ agriculture through salt deposits on agricultural fields, resulting from widespread breaching of protective embankments. This paper examines the nature of anthropogenic stress on the river and forest inflicted upon by the disaster. The study finds that fish and crab catching was a supplementary activity for most poor households along with agriculture. When agriculture was temporarily devastated, working adults from many such households opted to move out as migrant labourers. This in turn helped to release some possible pressure on the ecosystem. Climate Change predictions warn of increased frequency of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and this delta is considered as one of the most vulnerable areas in the country. This paper suggests that in face of such disasters, devising a long term policy of relocation of island people away from forest and rivers is a more ecologically sustainable strategy rather than protecting them locally by erecting costly embankments.