Development deficit worsening climate change in Sunderbans: CSE

Observing that climate change is adversely affecting the world heritage site of Sunderbans, a new study has blamed development deficit for worsening the situation.

"These natural calamities and changes are playing havoc with people's lives, but what is worsening the situation is the development deficit in the region. Sunderbans has remained largely neglected and isolated over the years, and development has passed it by," said a latest report by the New Delhi-based research body Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

On one hand, the region is experiencing rapid increase in population, while on the other it is witnessing extreme mismanagement of its fragile and limited land resources, leading to lower agricultural productivity and growing disenchantment of the rural poor, it said. A rising sea level has been eroding and eating away the land, while sea water ingress has been leading to high salinity, laying waste vast tracts of land. "Development planning in Indian Sunderbans has never included climate change or its impacts within its purview of things - and this is quite evident in the way everything from electrification to land management is being done here," said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director, CSE.The report called for a new plan for the mangroves in which development policy would include climate change and its impacts. "What Sunderbans needs is a development plan that will not only bridge the development deficit of the region but will tackle the impacts of the changing climate. In this context, a new land embankment policy is a must," the report said.

 

Dipayan Dey, chairperson of South Asian Forum for Environment (SAFE), said, "The paradigm for sustainable development in Sunderbans must shift from disaster-based hazard mitigation to community-based climate adaptive intervention". Spread across north and south 24 Parganas districts, the Sunderbans is one of the world's largest mangrove forests in the world and known for its rich biodiversity.