West Bengal to market the Sunderbans as a tourist hub – not only tigers

In an effort to woo tourists, West Bengal is hoping that the Sunderbans would attract tourists because the Sunderbans is not only about Royal Bengal tigers but also about the world's largest mangrove forest. The focus is shifting from the tiger to the lesser highlighted strengths of the Sunderbans. Tigers can easily be seen at Tiger Reserves in Ranthambore, Pench, Bandavgarh or Tadoba.
This is reported in telegraphindia.com dated 2 February 2016.

AS admitted by the joint director of Bengal tourism, most tourists come to the Sunderbans to see a tiger, only to realize that the terrain is very difficult and not like in other popular tiger sanctuaries. Therefore,plans are afoot to offer other attractions of the Sunderbans to the tourists. These would include - the mangrove forest, the local community and their lives, the rich flora and fauna.
Setting eyes on a tiger here is more about luck than effort because the sanctuary can be toured only by boat. One drawback is that there is no jeep or elephant safari to take tourists right into the tiger's lair. Incidentally, most tourists drop in on the Sunderbans for two to three days and it is not feasible to cover this whole area by boat within such a short span.
Among other attractions are the Saltwater Crocodile - the male of the species measures between four and five metres in length and weighs 400 to 1,000kg and is believed to be the largest of all living reptiles in the world. Then there is the Irrawaddy Dolphin apart from seven types of kingfishers and the endemic Masked Finfoot.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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‘Flamingo Sanctuary’ declared in Thane creek by government of Maharashtra

The government of Maharashtra has declared the northern portion of Thane Creek as ‘Flamingo Sanctuary’ and Mumbai can now boast of being the home to a wetland sanctuary. This would be the second marine sanctuary in Mumbai after the one at Malvan.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 9 August 2015.

The sanctuary is spread over 1,690 hectares and will include 896 ha of mangroves and 794 ha of adjacent water body. It is located on the western bank, between the Airoli and Vashi bridges that connect Mumbai with Navi Mumbai.
The proposal of creating the mangrove cell’s marine wildlife sanctuary in Thane was mooted in March last year. The responsibility of maintaining this would be that of the 'Mumbai Mangrove Conservation Unit' under the Mangrove Cell.
It seems ever since 1994, the Thane Creek has been attracting flamingos in large numbers. By November, over 30,000 of these beautiful birds, along with their chicks had descend in Mumbai to occupy the mudflats and the bordering mangroves. They usually remain in Mumbai till May and then shift base to the Bhuj area of Gujarat for breeding - a small resident population continue to remain.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Save environment plant trees

The 5th of June is the World Environment Day. It has become a tradition that learned people get together on this day and discuss the fate that awaits our future generations. It has become an annual ritual in which there are innumerable participants but no concrete results. We curse the truant monsoons; we stare at helpless peasants waiting for rains in their parched soils when suddenly we hear of a dam burst inundating hundreds of villages elsewhere. Or of bush fires that leave behind burnt embers as memories of dark green vegetation that was home to innumerable varieties of flora and fauna. The smoldering leaves float in the wind spreading the smell of death – not only death of nature but gradual of mankind.

Any place where there is a multitude of greenery; there is peace, calm and quiet. Large trees like the Banyan give shelter to hundreds of birds, they provide shade to the weary traveler, and they are a thing of beauty – that is why we worship this tree. In the botanical garden in Kolkata, there is a banyan tree that is ageless – it has innumerable roots that go into the ground. People do not know which of these is the original trunk.

Cutting trees is a serious offence but, in cities, the axe falls indiscriminately on these protectors of environment – excuses that are put forth range from the innocent 'widening of road' to the bizarre 'for hoardings of ads to tell us to plant more trees'. The railways introduced tree plantation drives all along the sides of the railway tracks – plenty of funds must have been earmarked for this activity on a continuous basis but the results do not indicate any noteworthy progress. Similarly for the preservation of mangroves – these protect the coastlines and when plans are worked out to convert these into living areas like the salt pans of Mumbai, it foretells a bleak future for the environment.