In order to conserve the biodiversity of the Sundarbans and protect Royal Bengal Tiger and other animals, the government has taken various remarkable initiatives in the last decade.
The government with the help of local authorities has been relentlessly working to prevent forest crime and create alternative employment opportunities for local people dependent on the Sundarbans.
But what is worrying is that still different kinds of illegal activities have been potentially harming the Sundarbans and its biodiversity. Also the forest has recently been exposed to a wide range of threats because of rapid industrialisation in and around it.
Reportedly, when the British left India, the Sundarbans was 37,813 square kilometres in size. Today, it has already shrunk to a mere 10,000 square kilometres - 6,000 in Bangladesh and 4,000 in India. With the increasing unplanned industrialisation going on around it, the area will get reduced further for sure.
With the increasing unplanned industrialisation
going on around the Sundarbans, the total area
will get reduced further for sure
According to Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 (amended in 2010), no one is allowed to set up any factory in the ecologically critical area (ECA).
However, going against the country’s policy, in the last few years 190 industrial and commercial units have been set up in the area, which, according to experts, poses a serious threat to the biodiversity of the world’s largest mangrove forest.
The forest is supposed to be a sanctuary for its vast flora and fauna. Instead, it has become a safe haven for smugglers and poachers who illegally snatch away its natural resources.
In order to protect the world’s largest mangrove forest, we must avert all kinds of illegal activities in and around Sundarbans by ensuring proper management and maintenance. In this regard, the forest department should deploy adequate manpower to monitor the illegal activities of poachers and the land grabbers.
Also establishments that are harmful to the Sundarbans should be shut down, and the people who are involved in harming the forest should be brought to book.
Activities such as cutting woods, poaching and building establishments inside the critical area should not be allowed. Also those industries in and around Sundarbans should be compelled by the authorities concerned to explain what measures they have taken to control pollution and waste management.