Progress of the political scenario of Sundarban (India) from pre-independence era up to twenty first century

Abstract

The largest delta of the world, Sundarban is enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is politically divided between two neighbouring country named India and Bangladesh. Based on the international partition, about 60 percent part of this 10,000 km2 (approximately) forest area belongs to Bangladesh and 40 percent to India under the state of West Bengal. This highly productive Mangrove contains diverse ecosystems which provides a wide range of direct ecosystem services to inhabitants as well as makes an effective role in the international economy and polity. However, this condition of the Sundarbans did not develop overnight, large tracts of the Sundarbans were cleared, drained and reclaimed for administrative and social development during the British colonial era. From that period to till date the transformation of Sundarbans has been tried to observe through this research paper.