Climate-Risk Sundarbans Needs Multi-
Pronged and Unified Approach
for Ecological Sustenance a Necessity
for Improved Livelihood: Summary
and Concluding Remarks
H.S.Sen
The Sundarbans is an agglomeration of about 200
islands, separated by some 400 interconnected tidal rivers, creeks and canals
spanning across two neighbouring countries of India and Bangladesh, is one of
the largest productive deltas in the world and located in the
Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basin. It has a rich heritage of biodiversity of
flora and fauna possibly unparallel to coastal or any other ecosystem in the
world. Only 29 nations and
territories in the world have a population density higher than that in
Sundarbans. The populace of Sundarbans suffers due to abject poverty with poor
livelihood security because of various constraints including climate-related
disasters. There is need for a holistic look at the entire problem being
essentially of transboundary nature, since the
problems and solutions of the two are not only mutually dependent but
also complementary to each other, and therefore attempts were made in this book
seeking for a future road map for higher and sustainable productivity and
improved livelihood status of this contiguous area. The compendium embodies a
unique fusion of various risk factor analyses with respect to geohydrological,
climatic, disaster, natural, and anthropological aspects in search of the goal
while the ecology of the entire area is protected. While analysing various
areas on a holistic note it was urged to explore the prospects of ecotourism, a
non-farm activity, with mangrove destinations, on transboundary mode to support
livelihood security particularly during stress periods.
Keywords
Sundarbans
livelihood security
Climate
change policy
Mainstreaming
climate change and adaptation strategies
Tidal
river management
E-flow
and hydrogeological conditions in rivers
Biodiversity
conservation and forest nmangement
Soil,
water and crop management
Sweet
and brackish water fisheries and aquaculture
Economics
risk factor analysis
Ecotourism
a non-farm sector
The Sundarbans is an agglomeration
of about 200 islands, separated by some 400 interconnected tidal rivers, creeks
and canals spanning across two neighbouring countries of India and Bangladesh. is
one of the largest productive deltas in the world and located in the
Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basin over parts of Bangladesh and India. The
coastal mangrove wetland is playing a potential role in balancing the ecology,
community socio-economy, and livelihoods of the community. It has been declared
by UNESCO as World Natural Heritage Site in 1997. It is a hotspot of mangrove
biodiversity with 373 faunal and 324 floral species. It is the habitat of
world’s largest contiguous mangrove forest and abode for the enigmatic Royal
Bengal Tiger. The area, over time, has been continuously truncated in size and
at present it is approximately three-fifths the size of what existed 200 years
ago (about 16,700 sq km), the rest having been cleared and converted to
agriculture and allied activities. Of
the present expanse of 10217 sq km, 4262 sq km (41.7%) is in India. About half
of the area in India (2320 sq km) is land mass. The rest 5955 sq km (58.3%) is
in Bangladesh. The Sundarbans eco-region holds about 0.1 percent of the global
population, 137 countries/territories have population less than the Sundarbans,
67 countries/territories are smaller in size, and only 29 nations and
territories have a higher population density. The region, therefore, is
globally significant not only for the natural area and biodiversity, but also
for the number of people who inhabit.
The eco-region, which is
particularly sensitive, has huge significance in terms of the deluge of
ecological services and functions for human welfare. But unbridled and naive
anthropogenic avarice is taking a heavy toll of Sundarbans resources in both
the countries ripping people of the region off their precious livelihoods. Obviously,
the future steps for improvement should be of mutual benefit to both the
countries, more specifically the tidal dominated eco-region. There is need for
a holistic look at the entire problem being essentially of transboundary nature, so
much so that the problems and solutions of the two are not
only mutually dependent but also complementary to each other, and therefore
attempts were made in this book seeking for a future road map for higher and
sustainable productivity and improved livelihood status of this contiguous
area. The compendium embodies a unique fusion of various risk factor analyses
with respect to geohydrological, climatic, disaster, natural, and
anthropological aspects in search of the goal while the ecology of the entire
area is protected.
___________________________________________________________________________
H.S.Sen
Editor; Former
Director, ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute & Allied Fibres
Present address:
2/74 Naktala, P.O. Naktala, Kolkata 700047, West Bengal, India, PIN 700047
email:
hssen.india@gmail.com
21.2 Need for Policy Integration on
Climate Change
The eco-region across Bangladesh
and India falls prey to climate change variabilities and extremes, as a result
of which, livelihood of farmers and other inhabitants suffer. Both countries
have their individual policies on climate change, unfortunately there are wide
gaps in approaches with few commonalities. This is striking, since in spite of
the very presence of SAARC since 1985, having mandate to address such vital
issues between the riparian countries, little progress has been made, as a
result both continue to suffer. For example, GoI considers the Himalayan
ecosystem is vital to ecological security, as the basic, of the Indian landmass
through various action plans, while GoB does not consider the inland ecosystem
being possibly not its priority. Policies with respect to Sundarbans eco-region
have been compared and critically analysed to identify; most importantly, the
National Action Plan and Climate Change Policy of India (2008) does not address
sea level rise, storm surges, and urban flooding issues with emphasis, ignoring
their impact on low-lying coastal zones. Construction of embankments to prevent
flooding of the low-lying areas has been missing, so much so that the risk of
rural livelihoods, income, and important issue like food security due to
climate change were not addressed. Bangladesh gives appropriate emphasis on these
issues. However, the coverage of GoI on coastal protection has been limited to
soft activities which include high resolution modelling, development of salt
tolerant crops, timely forecasting and warning of flood and cyclones
occurrences, and enhanced plantation and regeneration of mangroves and coastal
forests. Unlike Bangladesh, ‘adaptation’ to the miseries due to the weather
extremes has been little emphasized in the policy of India. ‘Mitigation’
policies are also widely different in the two countries. Even policies and
strategies to tackle loss of marine and coastal eco-region are widely
different. India however gives considerable importance to mitigating greenhouse
gas emission through expansion of renewable wastes and afforestation. Making note of such wide variation in the
country-wise policies on key issues on climate change it is strongly advocated,
to start with, undertake integration of
the policies of the two countries, and possibly Nepal also, all sharing the GBM
basin, under the aegis of SAARC, to address key concerns and vulnerabilities,
and discuss all related issues with open mind having full regards to
geo-political sovereignty of the countries.
21.3 Deteriorated E-flow in the Ganges and
Need to Upswing: Joint Action Plan to Monitor and Suggest Future Improvements
If climate change were an issue to ponder upon with utmost emphasis,
it is possibly equally important to have a look at the role of Farakka Barrage,
and deteriorated hydrology of surface and ground water, and their impacts on
the eco-region down to the south. The construction of Farakka Barrage across
the Ganga is located 17 km upstream of the diversion of the river into
Hooghly-Bhagirathi flowing through India and Padma-Brahmaputra-Meghna and their
tributaries into Bangladesh ─ all finally terminating into the Bay of Bengal.
It has been observed by a few of the barrage to be too inadequate to bring
about any positive impact either to flush out sediment load or to increase
navigational prospect for the Kolkata Port or to share dry season flow between
the two countries for their mutual benefits, the very purposes for which it was
conceived. There is little compatibility between the computed flow in 1977 and
the actually available flow into Farakka after that, owing possibly to large
and continual diversion of the river water at the upstream by a long list of
hydro-power and irrigation projects in the later decades leading to
deteriorating E-flow of water in the upstream stretch of the river Ganga within
the Indian territory. Ganga is now one of the world’s top
ten rivers at risk due to over-extraction and pollution of water quoting the
data of WWF-International, Gland, Switzerland. India's role as sharing entirely
the upstream flow of water passing through a number of states before reaching
the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal is therefore crucial in studying the impact
of alleged wrong-doings both at public and private sectors on the South Bengal
(India) and a major part of Bangladesh. This appears
to be a glaring factor for a series of problems created therefrom causing
saline water intrusion inland, rise of salinity in soil and water, affecting adversely
both agriculture and sweet water aquaculture in Sundarbans in both countries.
Although there are reports available in the Indian part that the navigation in
Kolkata Port suffers significantly due to increasing sedimentation in rivers
over time, there is considerable concern of saline water intrusion in
Bangladesh. The affected lower Ganga delta in Bangladesh is much larger in area
and possibly requires critical attention. Discharge data of the Ganga river for
the period of 1970 to 2011, according to one analysis, show that dry season
(November–May) flow has decreased up to 82% after the construction of Farakka
Barrage.
Deteriorating hydrology
in the rivers are also responsible for higher rate of erosion than accretion in
the river banks, as result the islands in the Sundarbans are continually being
modified. Appropriate
interventions are needed to resuscitate the Ganga to arrest the adverse trend
of hydrology considered to be possibly the most important component in terms of
deteriorating E-flow at the earliest and, in due course, reverse it for
sustainable ecology. Norms on drawing of
quantum of water by the hydro-power stations mostly in
Uttarakhand with
respect to the flow rate have been so far arbitrarily decided during planning.
and without provision for sound assessment of the impacts, although some attempts
have been made lately for such assessment, noteworthy of which has been by
WWF-India. Dwindling water flow and deteriorating water quality in the
downstream thus affect drastically the livelihood in the delta in many ways.
Questions are often raised about the trend in the change of
biodiversity due to reducing amount of flow over time in the lower delta,
especially in Sundarbans spread over both countries. Now
the ecosystem is changing rapidly and biodiversity is depleting fast with the
extinction of some species of the mangrove forest species. It however still
provides ideal habitats for a variety of unique plants, aquatic organisms, and
animals. A number of factors have
been identified for the loss of biodiversity over time in the whole delta.
Though it is not possible to attribute quantitatively the loss to different
factors, most of them are directly and indirectly linked with reduced water
flow in conjunction with various anthropogenic factors and climate change.
Indo-Bangladesh
cooperation on the Ganges has been limited to just water sharing and exchange
of partial data during flood season. It needs to be expanded to a more
collective regional water management approach, and to view the Ganges as a
precious resource, one that must be jointly managed to maximize benefits. To
develop arrangements for the mutual benefit of all the riparian countries,
collective efforts and joint studies are needed. These include studies on the
hydrological and morphological changes in the Ganges, feasibility studies of
the construction of storage reservoirs upstream and modelling of the hydrology
of the basin. Joint optimum water utilization, legal water sharing arrangements
and institutions for sustainable management of the Ganges water resources would
result in socioeconomic development and ecological benefits and improve the
livelihoods of the entire population of the Ganges depended area. A more
equitable and sustainable solution to the contemporary challenges could be
achieved by shifting the focus from just water sharing to the wider development
objectives of utilizing the benefits from integrated water management and
development of the river’s watershed. To achieve these objectives, the riparian
countries must approach the basin as a single ecological entity and the
elements of sustainability and equity should be incorporated in water planning
and policy goals.
It is, therefore, important to
place on record, in light of the above background, that the lower Ganga delta
of both India (south of Farakka) and Bangladesh (south-west), which shares the
same ecology, faces threats due to dwindling water diversion via Farakka
Barrage and deteriorating E-flow and water quality of the river in the upstream
at different places in India. This, other than the need for integration of
climate change policies of the two countries, necessitates a holistic plan to
be taken up by the governments of both countries through mutually exclusive
agreements, and for the latter the following suggestions are made to seek for a
lasting solution.
·
There
appears to be a need for revisiting the design of the Farakka Barrage, as well
as the discharge and distribution norms of water in the interest of the two
countries, keeping in view of the predicted flow of upstream Ganga water in
long-term perspectives, and if necessary, fresh norms to be decided.
·
Predicted
flow of water through Ganga-Brahmaputra, both originating in Tibet, river
system on account of retreat of glaciers and other parametric uncertainties due
to climate change needs to be studied and refined with appropriate climate
models in deciding the future norms for distribution of water via Farakka
Barrage with as much precision as possible in different time scales.
·
Need
for fresh installation of hydro-electric power and irrigation projects in India
must be given extremely careful consideration with stringent norms for
discharge of river water in the upstream, along with impact analysis as a
mandatory requirement, so that ecology of the area is not disturbed.
·
Past
hydro-electric power and irrigation projects in the upstream already in
commission need also to be reviewed in terms of the norms for discharge of
water, and if necessary, to be revised, so that ecology of the area is not
disturbed.
·
Strict
administrative vigilance to be maintained to stop acts on unscrupulous
diversion of water forthwith by private agencies in India.
·
Location-specific
integrated water development and management schemes at strategic points over
the entire flow length in different time scales to be prepared and their
methods of implementation be worked out, with adequate participation and
vigilance from the local inhabitants, to ensure maintaining prescribed water
quality throughout the year in India.
·
In
India, in particular, impacts of the water flow at different strategic points
into lower delta in respect of salinity in soil & water, flow rate, tidal
amplitude and fluctuations, sedimentation/ hydrological parameters, navigation
through rivers and in Kolkata Port, ground water table depths and qualities,
important components of biodiversity, and any other related parameters should
be taken up and monitored with a holistic plan, over minimum five year phases, through
a central task force comprising of scientists, NGOs, government officials,
local inhabitants, and the same placed in public domain. Similar programmes
should be simultaneously planned and taken up by Bangladesh. A core team
consisting of key members drawn from both countries should interact and monitor
the progress once in each year and suggest for improvement with respect to
targets fixed.
Technological advancements reported at country-level are
focused in the following sections worth mutual attention and holistic
application.
21.4 Mainstreaming of Climate
Change Adaptation Strategies
Because of geo-physical characteristics of the Sundarbans,
the adaptation options to tackle the impacts of climate change and sea level
rise are limited. Perhaps the most effective step will be to restore the fresh
water supply that the southwest region used to receive in pre-1975 period.
Construction of a Barrage on the Ganges, just downstream of the distributaries,
namely the Gorai-Modhumati, and, the Chandana-Barashia in Bangladesh will be
able to restore the flow partially. For this purpose, a collaborative action, jointly, by India and Bangladesh may
be pursued to ensure proper management of the adverse impacts of climate change
and fight the sea level rise-induced salinity that
is likely to rise further. For the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans, it
is suggested that the major aim of adaptation for Sundarbans would be to modify
the threats of permanent inundation from the sea level rise-induced submergence. It was opined that the submergence
process could not be stopped as most of the sea level rise would occur from the tectonic subsidence. One of
the options is to
retard the inundation process by enhancing sedimentation on the forest floor by
applying guided sedimentation techniques. However, such techniques need to be
piloted before formal application in the forest. The second but the most
important adaptation option would be targeting to reduce the threat due to salinity
intrusion as well as bringing down its concentration. This could be done
through: (a) increasing freshwater flows from upstream areas; (b) resuscitation
of existing river networks towards
improving flow regime along the forest; and (c) artificial enhancement of
existing river networks to facilitate
freshwater flow regime along the rivers supplying freshwater to the western
parts of the forest. Building hydropower
dams in Nepal could also be an effective cross-border adaptation option for the
Sundarbans. Flow of the Ganges can be doubled in the dry months by storing a
small portion of monsoon flows in the Nepalese dams. Low flow augmentation
could check saline water intrusion and help sustaining the Sundarbans ecosystem.
For the Indian Sundarbans, World Bank recommended to consider long- and
short-term adaption options and suggested the following: (a) estuary
management measures such as embankment realignment, mangrove restoration,
and salinity management to reduce long-term threats; and (ii) disaster risk
management interventions such as early warning systems, emergency
preparedness, and cyclone shelters to tackle near-term threats. It is stressed that inclusion of
Nepal
during the
negotiations in the spirit of the 1977 Ganges Water Agreement will be
beneficial for both parties.
21.5
Engineering Intervention on Tidal
River Management and Scope for Creating On-
farm Water Storage Structure for Integrated Water Management
The reduction in flow and sediment abetted by sea level rise
has led to increased flooding of low-lying agricultural lands. The freshwater
availability during non-monsoon is highly deficient. Estuary management by way
of closure though engineering structure has been adopted in several countries
to create freshwater storage, and this holds promise for Sundarbans as well. Tidal
river management (TRM), a practice which has been adopted in Bangladesh, has
the potential of reducing the flood hazard. However, introduction of this
ecotechnology requires careful considerations including: sequential
availability of beels, limits on
trapping silt, and the duration for this can be practised at a given location.
In India, the idea of
creating a freshwater storage is recommended by damming Saptamukhi river or elsewhere, using
suitable state-of-the-art technology through phased development, and it is likely to reduce
the vulnerability of Sundarbans to natural hazards ─ the practice therefore needs a serious
re-look.
It was suggested from water balance
analysis conducted in India considerable scope of rainwater harvesting in
on-farm reservoir (OFR) for irrigation and raise multiple crops in a year. It was recommended for this purpose to convert 20% of the
farm area into OFR. Simulation of surface drainage improvement with and without
OFR indicated surface drainage improvement, at the same time, up to 75% in
low-lying rice areas at one site, thus providing scope for cultivation of HYV
of rice in rainfed lowlands.
21.6 Erosion and Accretion of the
River Banks: Dynamic Shifting of the Islands
The low-lying coastal areas of Sundarbans
mostly covered by mangrove forests is threatened by erosion. Multi-temporal
satellite imageries were used attempting to address the issues of erosion and
sea level rise in the mangrove forested islands of entire Sundarbans covering
India and Bangladesh. Near about 325 sq km of land area has been found to be eroded
during this period over nearly three decades (1990-2017). Another spatio-temporal
study using satellite remote sensing showed, while the mangroves’ areal extent
has not changed much in the recent past, accretion rate of coastline has
declined as against erosion rate which has remained relatively high in the
recent years. As a result, the delta front has undergone a net erosion of ~170
km2 of coastal land during 1973 to 2010. It could be inferred, from
the two satellite studies that the relative loss of landmass has increased with
time, and this is alarming.
21.7 Disaster Monitoring and
Forecast, and Preparedness for Relief Actions
ISRO (India) observed from remote sensing satellites studies
that although the disaster of the ecosystem cannot be averted completely the
impact and loss of life can be minimized by effective implementation of
frontier technologies like information communication technology (ICT) through
advance warning, last mile communication, preparedness, monitoring, and damage
assessment. Satellite data products are used in pre-disaster planning, which
includes vulnerability zonation. In the flood prevention phase services of
meteorological satellites can be used to detect various aspects of hydrological
cycle especially cloud type, precipitation rate, moisture transport, and
surface soil wetness which are vital inputs for runoff modelling. Flood extent
is determined from moderate to high resolution remote sensing satellite, viz. IRS,
Landsat, Spot, etc. The model-derived potential flood extent can help emergency
managers to develop contingency plans well in advance. In response phase of
disaster mitigation, remote sensing data are used for damage assessment. The
case studies applied to Sundarbans showed application of the remote sensing
technologies to monitor ecological disturbances following cyclones and landmass
change due to accretion and erosion, the latter causing change in the boundary
of islands, a dynamic phenomenon, often not accessible physically due to
remoteness, particularly during post-hazards period. It is prudent, therefore,
that although both countries made individual efforts to make such studies using
advanced technologies to cope up with hazards being essentially of
transboundary in nature, a combined approach using similar sensors and with frequent
exchange of data could be more effective in the preparation and implementation
of policy framework for early warning
systems, preparedness, monitoring, and mitigating loss due to hazards,
including rehabilitation, which are otherwise rituals affecting adversely the
lives and socioeconomic conditions of the inhabitants.
For
instance, cyclone Aila in 2009 proved that a low-magnitude cyclone of category 1
could have devastating and long-lasting impacts to the impoverished coastal
residents of the affected areas. Such impacts were unexpected by the
governments of both Bangladesh and India. They were also not well prepared for
this event. For example, a sample survey conducted in the Indian part of the
Sundarbans reported that only 5% people had knowledge about Cyclone Aila before it made landfall. This
implies that the cyclone forecasting and warning systems were deployed in an
untimely manner or failed to reach the coastal residents. On the other hand,
the Government of Bangladesh downplayed the impacts of Aila by not declaring an official emergency in its immediate
aftermath and not requesting external assistance. This supports the argument
that public cyclone preparedness was not adequate to protect these embankments.
21.8 Climate Change and
Biodiversity Conservation
The
mangroves, the largest and most precious community in Sundarbans out of the
whole world, are extremely valuable heritage on account of mainly, its role in
blocking the storm surge and cyclones to mitigate damage to inlands,
maintaining ecology comprising of major 45 species including its role as food
chain of the flora and fauna, and as source of economy and livelihood of the
local inhabitants. Tropical mangroves forests are now among the most threatened
habitats in the world. Studies indicated that mangrove forest degradation due
to anthropogenic activities has been checked to a great extent. Nevertheless,
there is a growing concern of latent degradation of mangroves vegetation across
the transboundary Sundarbans due to certain environmental causes, such as (i)
increased salinity, (ii) erosion of forest-lands, and (iii) increased frequency
of natural hazards. These issues are unlikely to develop any sudden impact on
mangroves vegetation covering large scale areas, but their persistent effect
may alter vegetation dynamics in long term. In this context, Indian part needs
to recreate environment using and managing sediment-laden freshwater of the
feeder canal. Recreation of the Bangladesh Sundarbans environment involves two
steps- (i) dredging sand bars from the Ganges and distributaries leading to the
Sundarbans and allowing uniform sediment-laden freshwater flow inside the
Sundarbans for maintaining oligohaline environment, and (ii) uniform deposition
of sedimentation around forest-lands. Unfortunately, no joint effort engaging
experts from both the countries has been effective to protect mangroves and its
ecosystem until now. Either part of the transboundary Sundarbans has been
subject to individual effort to protect and promote the Sundarbans, but these means
are insufficient, since they are mutually dependent on each other, and
therefore a united effort is required. The difficulty to compile a biological
resource inventory as a unified unit in each taxonomic hierarchy across the
transboundary Sundarbans has been compounded. There are different enumerations
of biological organisms in the respective Sundarbans and so there are chances
of more errors surfacing. In such case ambiguity may occur when the Sundarbans
– a united block of mangroves forest covering both countries is considered.
Until recently, global warming and sea level rise has been predicted to cause
adversity to the transboundary Sundarbans and in such case, further, joint
effort is urgently needed to protect the Sundarbans by way of plantation of
climate resilient mangroves and develop a uniform management practices.
Sincerely, a joint collaboration involving both countries, is required, else
the fate of the unique eco-region across the transboundary Sundarbans may be at
stake.
In a
study in Bangladesh, the conservative prediction of IPCC clearly stated that
the sea level will rise by 7 to 23 inches by the end of the century. Glaciers
are melting resulting in sea level rise. Coral reefs, which are highly
sensitive to small changes in water temperature and acidity of water, suffered
the most and many succumbed to death. An upsurge in the number and intensity of
extreme weather events, such as forest fires, heat waves, cyclones, floods,
etc. has become established. It has been cautioned by many that up to 30% of
animal and plant species could be wiped out by a global temperature rise of 2.7
to 4.5 degrees Celsius. Under such change the nature might adjust (i.e.
adaptation). It is already visible that some species that love low saline
condition, such as Sundri (Heritierra fomes), Shingra (Cynometra ramiflora),
etc. have started to die in Sundarbans, while Passur (Xylocarpus spp) has
become almost rare now. More salt tolerant species, such as Goran (Ceriops
roxburgii), Jhana (Rhizophora mucronata), etc. will come to occupy these sites.
Similar impact is seen on aquatic fauna as well. With the climate change
impact, the fresh water availability in the Sundarbans Impact Zone will further
decline and ultimately will get devoid of any fresh water, both surface and
ground water. The cyclonic storms and tidal surges will gradually get enhanced
and ultimately get very severe, which will cause a mass migration of population
of the SIZ area to further north. Under such anticipated devastating
predictions, a close and intensive monitoring on a regular basis to activate
early warning protocol is essential.
The
lower species in plant kingdom, the
algae, are normally undermined. As a group, they do not include single taxa but
is an agglomeration of absolutely unrelated or distantly related groups of
organisms. This confers them a variety of morphology, structure, process, and
characteristics unknown in any other single group of organisms. Sundarbans,
spread across India and Bangladesh, is reportedly quite rich in terms of its
algal flora with the presence of 762 species of algae, documented possibly for
the first time. It is possible to delineate their presence in different zones
of Sundarbans with notes on the habitats they occupy, while their dynamics in
the ecosystem are dependent on many different environmental variables. The water quality data did not reveal much in terms of
change but application of a diatom-based palaeo-limnological analysis suggests
a subtle, yet distinct species assemblage shift 1987 onwards, along with
climate change. It is therefore important to pay increased
attention to algae, particularly diatom flora in Sundarbans, while inferring
climate change effects in the past, for the purpose of predicting future
climate dynamics, and also for possible impacts of climate change on the
system.
21.9 Spatio-temporal Variability of Soil and Water
Characteristics: Need for Detailed Study on Groundwater System
Scores of data are being generated
on soil and water characteristics in both India and Bangladesh. It is clear
from the trend, which is spatio-temporally variable in nature, that rivers and
estuaries are tending to become principally tide-fed with time since there
appears to be lesser flow of water from the mighty Ganges in the upstream,
being common to both countries, due to siltation and poor solid waste
management. While, this is a matter of serious concern in so far as surface
water hydrology and the related soil characteristics, being constraints
limiting the crop productivity, leaving aside the frequent occurrence of
climatic hazard and its influence in the eco-region, very little progress has
been made on the groundwater and its utilization having tremendous potential
otherwise from the point of view of its capacity along the coastal tract. It is
indicative, though not conclusive so far from the limited studies, contrary to
the observations from other coastal ecosystems in the globe, that the
groundwater in Sundarbans is possibly not influenced by the adjoining rivers
and the sea. In order of planning for exploitation of the coastal groundwater,
specific programme needs to be undertaken, preferably in transboundary mode, to
arrive at a definite conclusion and plan for the mode and nature of its use for
irrigation and domestic purposes without affecting the ecology of the region.
21.10 Improved
Land, Nutrient, Water, Crop Management Practices, and Key Features for
Sustainable Economics of Cultivation
On
the scope for use of stress-tolerant crops and other improved management aspects,
it is advocated to adopt cropping system intensification in the Sundarbans by
growing low water-requiring field crops, vegetable and fruits in rabi/ summer season, and introduction of
high-value commercial crops under protected cultivation, which are commercially
viable and having good market demand; adoption of high frequency-low volume
irrigation practices, like drip or pitcher, implementation of integrated
nutrient management involving sources having high nutrient-use efficiency; and use
of improved agronomic management practices like drum-seeder for rice
transplantaion. Land-shaping model has been advocated, in particular, for use
of various crop intensification models including pisciculture and duckery. Diversification
of agriculture through agroforestry may be an important proponent for resource
utilization, enhancing farm income, and livelihood security of farmers in these
traditionally mono-cropped coastal areas. Upon cropping system intensification
and mechanization, energy requirement for agriculture should grow rapidly for
round the year cultivation. To meet the demand for future energy requirement as
well as to reduce the dependence on conventional (non-renewable) energy
resources, there is a need to explore the alternative (un-conventional or
renewable) energy sources like solar, biological or natural resources. Advanced
research methodologies to increase water productivity through the use of
appropriate crop models can help in optimizing the water use, reduce the
pressure on the ground water, and address salinity development under the
imminent changing climate scenarios.
On the economics front, risk factors
involved in agricultural practices and recommendations for improvement, based
on location-specific constraints, should be the most important considerations for
decision-making in farm management, adoption of new technologies, and enhancing
farm income. Suitable cropping system intensification, with emphasis on
introduction of high-value crops, can be one of the ways to agricultural risk
mitigation. Complementarity between agriculture and industry/non-farm
entrepreneurship are suggested as yet other ways for risk management. It is
suggested that professional
help is needed, who could act as key service providers to supply inputs and
facilitate availing credits, buying insurance products, and selling of produce
through single-window system. Such professionals will act as the facilitators
between farmers and government agencies and help risk mitigation in agriculture.
It is inferred that enhancing farmers' income in Sundarbans, West Bengal is a
challenging task but can be performed satisfactorily when technology
interventions are combined with appropriate policy support. The most critical
concern for the farmers in the Sundarbans region is not only to achieve higher
farmers’ income level, but also to sustain the enhanced level across the different
farmers’ groups.
21.11 Improved Sweet and Brackish Water
Fisheries and Aquaculture
Estuarine aquatic systems and braided rivers
in and adjacent to the Sundarbans and the vast area of the Ganges tidal
floodplain next to the core forest area in Bangladesh holds rice aquatic faunal
diversity and provides plenty of opportunities to grow fish, shrimps and crabs.
Currently these systems provide direct employment opportunity for 1.2 million
people and indirect or seasonal livelihood for more than 10 million people
across the southwest coast. Hilsa is the largest fishery in this region and
shrimp brings the highest cash and export earnings. This
vast fertile area provides great opportunity to improve fish and shrimp
production and improving the livelihoods of the people in this region. Proper implementation
of fisheries regulation is critical to ensure conservation of the rich fish
diversity of this region as well as to continue to support livelihood of
millions of people living on fisheries. While aquaculture is the major
contributor to national fish production, agricultural GDP and export earning,
it requires planned advancement from the current state to continue to grow in
harmony with environment. Integration with rice and other crops, and with
mangrove wherever possible can bring long-term sustainability of these systems.
Change in the river flow due to siltation and reduced upstream flow, climate
change, sea level rise, outbreak of disease in fish and crustaceans are major
challenges for future growth and sustainability of both aquaculture and
fisheries in this region. Land zoning for different products,
landscape-based integrated approach for saving fisheries, and technological
advancement for sustainable and resilient aquaculture vis-a-vis their
environmental and societal impacts can be the future directions for growth and
improvement of fisheries and aquaculture. In addition, there
should be mechanism to bring research outputs into use and make impact on
sustainability. A plan is required considering
overlapping interest of fisheries and aquaculture with strong scientific base.
Strengthening and activation of multi-stakeholder coastal zone management is
essential for conservation and management of fisheries; enhancement of aquatic
and wetland biodiversity; and sustainable intensification of aquaculture, along
with developing means to monitor and mitigate the environmental and societal
impacts. Finding ways to grow aquaculture and fishery in harmony in a mangrove
ecosystem is of vital importance.
Shrimp farming in
Bangladesh coastal areas is growing very rapidly in commercial interest and is associated
with several environmental and societal impacts which hinder sustainable
development in this blooming sector. It is necessary for the government to
strictly enforce the existing law in order to restrict this dangerous trend of
the useful agricultural land turning waste, and also with the purpose to
protect the environment at large.
In
India, freshwater aquaculture contributes parallel economy and livelihood
security of the peoples living in close vicinity in the eco-region. But fish
productivity in the range of 1000 – 1200 kg ha-1 yr-1 in
this region in India is much lower at present in comparison to national average
of 2,840 kg ha-1 yr-1 mainly due to the non-scientific
culture, poor quality fish seed, and overall lack of knowledge. Rainwater
harvesting to get freshwater for multipurpose use like fish farming and
integrating with livestock and crop production, land shaping, reclamation and
re-excavation of sweet water sources including step-cutting or terracing on
inward-slopes of the ponds, linkage between the fisheries output and effective
marketing / processing, and moreover development of alternative climate
adaptive livelihood options for the fish farmers, which will match to their
skill and capacity, should be developed. Awareness among the farmers through
continuous training, technology demonstration and development of alternative
climate adaptive livelihood options for the fish farmers will help in meeting
the food security and sustainable development of Sundarbans aquaculture. ICAR-CIFA
is doing a commendable job in this direction in Sundarbans, India.
With the introduction of Pacific
white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei)
during 2009, Indian brackishwater aquaculture industry has grown rapidly. In
addition, certain marine/ brackishwater fish such as, seabass, mullets,
milkfish and pearlspot have shown a lot of promise. Successful domestication of
indigenous Indian white shrimp (Penaeus
indicus) and experimental farming using hatchery-produced seed by ICAR-CIBA
showed encouraging results. Besides domestic consumption, fishery products
exported from the state of West Bengal were 91263 tons of value Rs. 34390 million
during 2015-16. Indian Sundarbans located in the southeast end of West Bengal
offers congenial environment for growth of variety of fishes and shrimps.
Frozen shrimp and live crab are the main export items from brackishwater
aquaculture in Sundarbans. As the economic benefit is greater, there is a tendency
of Sundarbans dwellers to shift from fishing to aquaculture for better
livelihood. About 25% of 2.1 lakh ha potential brackishwater areas in West
Bengal are under use and the state has been the Indian leader in tiger shrimp
production while farmers adopted white leg shrimp farming late compared to
other Indian maritime states after successful demonstration by ICAR-CIBA at its
research centre at Kakdwip. There is vast scope for sustainable development of
brackishwater aquaculture in Sundarbans to meet the livelihood demand utilizing
the unused and underused areas and adopting advanced farming practices.
Challenges faced by Sundarbans aquafarmers need to be tackled by appropriate
management tools like social mobilization of aqua producers, technology assessment
and refinement, participatory planning, and capacity building of key
stakeholders. Besides the above, it is recommended to introduce water and soil
testing facilities, supply of quality seeds and quality feed at affordable
price, providing appropriate storage and value addition technologies necessary
for marketing of the produce transported from remote areas, and making the
farmers aware of environmental impact including soil degradation due to
brackish water use, etc.
21.12 Non-farm Activity: Ecotourism a Potential Source
with Wetland Mangrove Ecosystem as Destination
Review of societal transformation in
the Sundarbans eco-region with intervention from administration time-to-time in
respect of use of various professional practices over ages and lessons learnt
therefrom showed interesting insights into their prospects and sustainability
in as far as livelihood security was concerned. Climate change has been and is likely
to complicate the prospects in future threatening the livelihood security. For instance, transformation of forests to
agriculture was common, but in view of the knowledge that brackish river water was
a serious constraint, rice cultivation was persisted with since independence.
Rising population and tidal waters, declining land and productivity, as well as
more intense storms made the already non-conducive situation worse. It is
strongly suggested, based on the lessons learnt to explore newer development
options for livelihood security, this time in non-farm sector. Thus, although
ecotourism with mangrove destinations, preferably on transboundary mode, seeks
to increase opportunities to a significant note, there are no automatic
benefits associated with ecotourism; and the success depends on joint exercise desired
on good planning and management.
21.13
Conclusions
All the above episodes should address
the livelihood security, directly or indirectly, of the inhabitants of
Sundarbans eco-region, preferably if not mandatorily, planned and executed in a
transboundary mode for mutual benefit to both countries. I sincerely wish and
urge the planners, scientists and workers concerned to make a beginning on this
note, with the view to not only save the ecology of this remarkably precious
eco-region, as nature’s gift and a proud heritage, presently at its alarming
stage of the very existence due to climate change, continually deteriorating
hydrology of the rivers, and other anthropological interventions, but also suggest
pathways for sustainable improvements of livelihood. Isolated strategies in the
name of improvement without bothering for ecology for such sensitive areas as
Sundarbans may prove highly dangerous for all time to come. To quote a simple
example from India, the complacency of the administration to arrange roadways
through silted-up river beds in Sundarbans by letting the rivers dry up due to
sedimentation and reduced water flow in it is antithesis to development
blunderingly ignoring ecology of the area.
There are lot of gaps in the
planning and knowledge pool of the workers concerned, mostly because of
isolated actions by both countries with very little attempts made so far on
sharing and deliberating in open mind. I once again urge to explore and exploit
non-farm actions, be it ecotourism or beyond, seriously, alongside application
of on-farm activities, to improve livelihood sustainably with full protection
to ecology of the area.
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