these islands difficult to access from the mainland. Being estuarine islands, they
face the onslaught of tides from both rivers and the sea, which means water which
inundates these low lying lands are both sweet and salty by nature. The silt
deposited by the river is often washed away by the sea during high tides. Again, the
eroded silt gets deposited at some other place. This process of land formation on
one side and erosion on the other has been going on simultaneously for thousands
of years (Hazra et al. 2002). In the months of March to September, the high water
levels during tidal bores are the highest in the region (Danda 2007). The
Sunderbans provide a unique ecosystem for countless varieties of mangroves
because of its saline soil. It is also home to different animals and is also rich with
wide varieties of fishes. Politically, these islands are shared by the Indian state of
West Bengal and Bangladesh. The larger chunk lies in Bangladesh and the
International boundary between India and Bangladesh is marked by the river
Raimangal, which flows along these islands. It is a very porous border and there is a
continuous flow of people from the other side of the border. In this paper, I have
only discussed the Indian Sunderbans. In total, there are 102 islands in the Indian
Sunderbans of which 54 are inhabited. The uninhabited ones fall under the reserved
forest area and has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Though these islands support a huge population, civic amenities are found to be
abysmally missing here. The inhabitants are primarily engaged in farming or fishing
activities. But most are subsistent farmers and fishermen. There are several ponds
on these islands which are used for both domestic and agricultural use. Usually, the
richer families own these water bodies. There is still no grid electricity in most of
these villages. Transferring power across the numerous rivers is a tricky business.
People thus use either solar powered lights or kerosene lamps. Some of the block
headquarters have brick or concrete roads but the interior villages only have mud
roads. Most of the houses here are mud houses and are of single storey. Primary
schools are found in plenty but the dropout rates are very high. High schools or
Colleges are very few and far. The medical set up found here is very poor, and thus
even in emergencies they have to travel to the hospitals in the district headquarters.
And many a times, the patient does not survive the long uncomfortable journey.
Transport mainly suffices of overloaded, wooden motor or oar driven boats. Vans
and cars ply on some of islands which have been connected by bridges with the
mainland and have all weather roads.
The islands are administratively part of the North and South 24 Pargana districts
in the State of West Bengal. In fact, the North 24 Pargana district is the second most
densely populated district in India (India Census 2011).
1.1.1 Data Source
The data for this paper has been taken from my dissertation on the “Problems of
development and planning in the Sunderbans” under Prof. Swapna Banerjee-Guha
358
H. Pakrashi
face the onslaught of tides from both rivers and the sea, which means water which
inundates these low lying lands are both sweet and salty by nature. The silt
deposited by the river is often washed away by the sea during high tides. Again, the
eroded silt gets deposited at some other place. This process of land formation on
one side and erosion on the other has been going on simultaneously for thousands
of years (Hazra et al. 2002). In the months of March to September, the high water
levels during tidal bores are the highest in the region (Danda 2007). The
Sunderbans provide a unique ecosystem for countless varieties of mangroves
because of its saline soil. It is also home to different animals and is also rich with
wide varieties of fishes. Politically, these islands are shared by the Indian state of
West Bengal and Bangladesh. The larger chunk lies in Bangladesh and the
International boundary between India and Bangladesh is marked by the river
Raimangal, which flows along these islands. It is a very porous border and there is a
continuous flow of people from the other side of the border. In this paper, I have
only discussed the Indian Sunderbans. In total, there are 102 islands in the Indian
Sunderbans of which 54 are inhabited. The uninhabited ones fall under the reserved
forest area and has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Though these islands support a huge population, civic amenities are found to be
abysmally missing here. The inhabitants are primarily engaged in farming or fishing
activities. But most are subsistent farmers and fishermen. There are several ponds
on these islands which are used for both domestic and agricultural use. Usually, the
richer families own these water bodies. There is still no grid electricity in most of
these villages. Transferring power across the numerous rivers is a tricky business.
People thus use either solar powered lights or kerosene lamps. Some of the block
headquarters have brick or concrete roads but the interior villages only have mud
roads. Most of the houses here are mud houses and are of single storey. Primary
schools are found in plenty but the dropout rates are very high. High schools or
Colleges are very few and far. The medical set up found here is very poor, and thus
even in emergencies they have to travel to the hospitals in the district headquarters.
And many a times, the patient does not survive the long uncomfortable journey.
Transport mainly suffices of overloaded, wooden motor or oar driven boats. Vans
and cars ply on some of islands which have been connected by bridges with the
mainland and have all weather roads.
The islands are administratively part of the North and South 24 Pargana districts
in the State of West Bengal. In fact, the North 24 Pargana district is the second most
densely populated district in India (India Census 2011).
1.1.1 Data Source
The data for this paper has been taken from my dissertation on the “Problems of
development and planning in the Sunderbans” under Prof. Swapna Banerjee-Guha
358
H. Pakrashi