Soon, audit of embankments in Sunderbans

Kolkata: To stop the ingress of saline water into agricultural lands in the Sunderbans area, the Sunderban Affairs department and the state disaster management department will jointly conduct an audit of the embankments.

Recently, the Sunderban Affairs minister Bankim Hazra and state disaster management minister Javed Khan visited areas that are severely affected due to the ingress of saline water into farmlands.

After a survey, it was agreed that a solution needs to be figured out to put an end to this problem which is destroying crops and thereby robbing farmers of their livelihood.

Sources in the Sunderban Affairs department said that the thorough audit will take into account all the points from which saline water is entering the crop fields and even ponds.

Repairs will be carried out based on the audit report. There are mostly single-crop lands in the Sunderbans.

Every year after cyclonic storms hit the Sunderbans area, the end result leads to the destruction of crops and the death of fish in village ponds. Recent soil tests conducted by experts in several blocks of Sunderbans revealed an abnormal rise in saline levels. Soil samples from nine blocks that include Patharpratima, Sandeshkhali-I and II, Kakdwip, Sagar Island etc showed high levels of saline content.

An official said that saline content up to 10 ppt is detrimental to not just crops but also the Sundari trees of the mangrove forest.

“Trees such as Sundari and Hogla cease to thrive in brackish water as it weakens the root. These are suitable for sweet water. In Sundarban, there is a mixture of sweet and salt water which maintains a balance but the problem arises when this equilibrium is disturbed,” the official said.

A Sunderbans researcher opined that salt-resistant genetically modified crops should be given to the farmers. Paddy such as Malabati and Bhuri are perfect types.

It is learnt that a team of specialised engineers from IIT Kharagpur might be engaged for conducting the audit of river embankments.

It is to be decided if concrete embankments are to be erected.