Sunderbans National Park
Area: 1,330sq km
Status: World Heritage Site & Biosphere Reserve
Established: 1984
Nearest Airport: Dum Dum Airport (Calcutta) 166km
Nearest Railhead: Canning 105km
Best Time to Visit: November to February
The holy Ganga journeys down the Himalayas and flows along India’s vast monotonous
plains into the state of West Bengal. Towards the southern tip of the state, the
land and the Bay of Bengal break out into a lively welcoming fandango to form a
fresco of tangled mangrove swamps – the Sunderbans. The Sunderbans are spread out
over an area of 16,500sq km in the prostrate delta towards the mouth of the Ganga,
and form the world’s largest estuarine forests that constitute 80% of India’s total
mangrove swamps. A World Heritage Site, the Sunderbans are also amongst the richest
biosphere reserves in the subcontinent.
The silt deposit islands on the Sunderbans Delta are connected to the mainland through
a labyrinthine waterway system, with some islands being practically impenetrable.
This has turned out to be a boon in disguise because the ecology of the area and
these fecund marshlands, wired in thick foliage, are able to support an astonishing
variety of plant and animal life. Twenty-six of the fifty broad mangrove types found
in the world, thrive in the Sunderbans. In order to preserve this clearly unique
biosphere, the area between River Hooghly and the River Teulia was declared a National
Park in the year 1984. The protected reserve covers a stretch of 1,330sq km, and
also constitutes the core zone of the National Park.
Compared to other reserves in the world, this park has the largest population of Bengal tigers and also abounds in salt water crocodiles, olive Ridley turtles, Gangetic
dolphins, chitals (spotted deer), fishing cats, wild boars, otters, rhesus macaques,
monitor lizards, snakes, innumerable fishes, crabs, lobsters, shrimps, worms and
a host of birds including kingfishers, storks, herons, Brahmin ducks,
ibise, water fowl and egrets, to name only a few.
Getting to the Sunderbans is no mean feat. The closest airport is the Dum Dum Airport
in Kolkata, at a distance of 166km from the Sunderbans. The nearest railhead, at
a distance of 105km, at Canning, is not close either to this elusive destination.
From Canning you have to reach Sonakhali, from where the adventure takes on another
dimension altogether. You must now take a boat ride that lasts a good six to seven
hours, to Gosaba. This is followed by a rickshaw ride to Pakhirala from where yet
once again a boat ferries you across to Sajnekhali – the base of the Sunderbans
National Park.
At a distance of 50km from the National Park, Gosaba is the nearest town. Many travellers
find it more convenient to take a bus from Kolkata to Sonakhali or Basunti via Babu
Ghat. It is also possible to hire your own private boat from Canning! For the uninitiated,
the journey provides the rites of passage to rural Bengal.
Though the National Park boasts of the largest number of tigers, spotting one effortlessly
is not half as easy. That human existence is oftentimes at the mercy of the tiger
population is evident from the fact that roughly 20 man-eating cases are reported
every year. Pretty much a land where the jungle law reigns supreme, where only the
fittest are meant to prevail.
The islands are inundated twice every day due to tidal action! It is interesting
to see how the tiger, like the other life forms, has adapted to this habitat against
such odds. The Sunderbans tiger is an adept swimmer, can survive on brackish water,
and is also known to feed on fish and sea turtles.
Though you may cruise around the maze of islands, waiting with bated breath to catch
a fleeting glimpse of the beautiful cat you may or may not see, your odyssey shall
nevertheless be a memorable one, with many coloured kingfishers diving for their
kill and the curious life of a myriad tiny creatures weaving their own magic into
it.
Lodges at Sunderbans
provide a comfortable stay for wildlife watching adventures.
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