Development of Sundarbans through Estuary Management for Augmenting Freshwater Supply, Improved Drainage and Reduced Bank Erosion

Abstract

The Sundarbans delta is a fragile ecosystem facing the multiple hazards in the forms of increased flooding, shrinking & sinking, and acute shortage of freshwater, all of them constraining the economic development. Based on the extensive review, partial or complete closure of estuaries for creation of freshwater reservoir, beel management in tidal rivers (TRM) to reduce drainage congestion, and managed realignment of embankments for re-naturalizing the low-lying areas are identified as scientific knowledge-based interventions to ease the development constraints. The important pre-closure investigations and prospective locations for initiating the estuary-closure in Sundarbans are described. The concept of tidal river management (TRM), the new name for an old practice, and the experiences of TRM in Bangladesh, are briefly elucidated. In India, the idea of creating a freshwater storage by damming Saptamukhi river or elsewhere, using suitable state of the art technology through phased development, which is likely to reduce the vulnerability of Sundarbans to natural hazards, needs a serious re-look. Finally, the concept of managed realignment of estuary embankment and the need for such realignments in Sundarbans in order to minimize embankment failure, which causes immense damage in the region, is discussed.