Skip to content
Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Primary Menu Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us
  • Featured

Salinity In Sundarbans: People Buying Drinking Water, Leaving Farming

Dec 9, 2022 | Pratirodh Bureau

Men on a boat row past mangrove trees encircling the island of Satjelia in the Sundarbans. A study has revealed that mangroves on Indian coasts that act as coastal guards have considerably shrunk due to climate change (Image: Reuters)

(Source: PTI)

Bibhas Mondal, a farmer of West Bengal’s Hasnabad gram panchayat, stopped agricultural work two years ago as Cyclone Aamphan of 2020 inundated the area in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve with saline water, making land unfit for cultivation.

Shikha Mondal, another resident of Khapukur village, purchases drinking water from a local treatment plant as tube wells only lift saline water for the same reason. The salinity of the underground water they get from tube wells is 5 PSU (Practical Salinity Unit) while the ideal should be zero PSU, marine scientist Prof Abhijit Mitra told PTI.

Many people like Bibhas Mondal and Shikha Mondal, who are facing such problems, have raised these issues with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee when she visited their village in North 24 Parganas district last week. Banerjee directed the district authorities to address their problems.

“We have no drinking water. There is also no (proper) water to cultivate our land. All land has been damaged by the saline water following Cyclone Aamphan in 2020. We want Mamata Banerjee to solve these problems…. We do not want anything else,” Sikha Mondal told PTI.

The cyclone barrelled through the coastal districts of the state on May 21 two years ago, killing at least 12 people, uprooting thousands of trees, blowing up shanties and swamping low-lying areas. The villagers also have to buy 20 litres of water for Rs 10 from the treatment plant and a family has to shell out around Rs 1,500 a month for drinking water.

“The amount is high for us… it is not affordable. We want the administration to address this issue,” Sikha Mondal said. Some people in the village are forced to drink saline water. Consumption of such water for a long time is likely to cause a number of health issues. As the land has become unfit for agriculture in Hasnabad, Bhowanipur and Barunhat blocks under Basirhat sub-division, many people are now trying their hand at shrimp farming for a living.

“We have no work now. The land has been spoiled by the saline water and we are now trying to earn by shrimp cultivation,” Bibhas Mondal said. Villagers stated that they have informed the local MLA about the matter, but there has been no help.

Mihir Adhikary, a local leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress, also talked about the problems faced by the people. “We have been requesting the leaders to give us some respite, but there has been no response from anybody. The district administration has been doing nothing. Now, we have told Mamata Banerjee, and she has assured us of help,” Bibhas Mondal told PTI.

“I’ve heard about your water-related problems. We are trying to solve it. We will connect all households in West Bengal with tap water by 2024,” the chief minister said. Banerjee, who distributed saris and blankets among the villagers, also said that the state government is working on a masterplan for the overall development of the Sundarbans.

Some of the women even expressed unhappiness with Banerjee’s gift of saris. “What will I do with this sari? We need proper water to drink and cultivate the land. These are affecting our lives,” a homemaker who did not wish to be identified told PTI.

Expressing concern over the issue, marine scientist Dr Abhijit Mitra said that the salinity in the area’s water has been increasing since the early 1980s, especially in the central part of the Indian Sundarbans region.

The central sector of the Indian Sundarban biosphere reserve is hyper-saline. No freshwater discharge is coming from the upstream area and this part is receiving only the tidal water of the Bay of Bengal, the Calcutta University teacher said. “The salinity in water in this zone has been increasing but the rise gained momentum since 2009 after Cyclone Aila hit West Bengal. Now, there is around 20gm of salt in one litre of water, which is unthinkable for agriculture,” he said.

However, the situation in the eastern sector of the biosphere, under which the village falls, is not so bad. Talking on condition of anonymity, a senior state government official said that the administration is working hard to address every issue in that area. “Things are not that bad as it has been said. We are working very hard for the overall development of the Sundarbans and its surrounding area,” the bureaucrat said.

Septuagenarian villager Sushil Mondal is keeping his fingers crossed. “The chief minister has assured us of ending our water problems. Something will definitely happen,” he said.

Tags: agriculture, Cyclone Aamphan, Pratirodh, saline water, salinity, Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, Sunderbans

Continue Reading

Previous Shrinking Glaciers Threaten Energy Transitions
Next Extinction On Our Plates

More Stories

  • Featured

‘Fraud Cannot Be Obfuscated By Nationalism’

26 mins ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Doomsday Clock Is At 90 Secs To Midnight

7 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Human Activity Degraded Over 3rd Of Amazon Forest: Study

8 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • ‘Fraud Cannot Be Obfuscated By Nationalism’
  • Doomsday Clock Is At 90 Secs To Midnight
  • Human Activity Degraded Over 3rd Of Amazon Forest: Study
  • Kashmir’s Nourishing Karewas Crumble Under Infrastructure Burden
  • Sprawling Kolkata Faced With A Tall Order For A Sustainable Future
  • Indian Economy Yet To Revive From Effects Of Pandemic: CPI (M)
  • New Pipelines Will Fragment Assam’s Protected Forests: Environmentalists
  • The Role Of Urban Foraging In Building Climate-Resilient Food Systems
  • Now, A ‘Private’ Sainik School Linked To RSS?
  • About 3,000 Tech Employees Being Fired A Day On Average In Jan
  • War Veteran Doctor, ‘Rasna’ Creator Are Among Padma Awardees
  • Black Days Ahead If Coal City Doesn’t Change
  • US Firm Alleges ‘Brazen’ Fraud By Adani, Who Calls It Malicious
  • Why Ukraine War Today Is So Different From A Year Ago
  • No Screening Of BBC Docu At JNU As Power, Internet Cut
  • Shielding The Hijol From Climate Impacts
  • Bilkis Bano’s Plea Against Convicts’ Remission Could Not Be Heard In SC
  • NDRF To Station Permanent Teams In Hills For Rescue Operations
  • Thousands Of Indian IT Professionals Jobless In The US
  • How Solar-Powered Refrigerators Slow Down Climate Change

Search

Main Links

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us

Related Stroy

  • Featured

‘Fraud Cannot Be Obfuscated By Nationalism’

26 mins ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Doomsday Clock Is At 90 Secs To Midnight

7 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Human Activity Degraded Over 3rd Of Amazon Forest: Study

8 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Kashmir’s Nourishing Karewas Crumble Under Infrastructure Burden

2 days ago Shalini
  • Featured

Sprawling Kolkata Faced With A Tall Order For A Sustainable Future

2 days ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • ‘Fraud Cannot Be Obfuscated By Nationalism’
  • Doomsday Clock Is At 90 Secs To Midnight
  • Human Activity Degraded Over 3rd Of Amazon Forest: Study
  • Kashmir’s Nourishing Karewas Crumble Under Infrastructure Burden
  • Sprawling Kolkata Faced With A Tall Order For A Sustainable Future
Copyright © All rights reserved. | CoverNews by AF themes.