Halt char development in Sundarbans

The Bagerhat district administration is doing the development work of an Ashrayan (shelter for the poor) project on a new char that has emerged recently in East Sundarbans. The forest department had written to the deputy commissioner to stop the earth-filling work on the ground that it would adversely affect the ecology of the mangrove forest. Unfortunately, the directives of the High Court (HC) have also been ignored.

We agree with the forest department that any human settlement in the mangrove forest will have an adverse impact on the delicate biodiversity that exists in the Sundarbans. Given that these people will be living off the forest means that there will be indiscriminate fishing and woodcutting and that will lead to greater deforestation and put a strain on the marine population. The latest move comes in the backdrop of similar settlement proposals that had been proposed back in 2005 and 2013, but this time around, the local administration is lending a deaf ear to protests of environmentalists and the forest department alike.

Today, the Sundarbans faces an unprecedented attack with some 190 industries and factories set up within 10km of the forest, according to a report by the Department of Environment to the HC back in April. This speaks volumes about the administration's commitment to safeguarding the Sundarbans and the latest attempt to settle people there is merely an extension of this policy. We strongly urge the administration to take heed of the HC order and stop the development work that will most definitely be detrimental to the ecological balance of the Sundarbans.