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Observing that adhoc measures adopted to forestall coastal erosion of the Sundarbans, peculiarly the accelerated eroding Ghoramara island, volition not output fruitful results successful the agelong run, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has called for a broad attack and acceptable up a committee to travel up with a study successful 3 months.
The main Bench of the NGT comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson and adept subordinate Afroz Ahmad, appointed a Joint Committee comprising the Director General Forest, Regional Office, Bhubaneshwar Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, West Bengal.
“The Joint Committee volition cod each the applicable facts and volition hole a broad program for the extortion of the mangrove wood successful the areas nether information successful this OA (Operative Application) and besides the steps that tin beryllium taken for the extortion of the coastal erosion successful that country and further enhancing the mangrove coverage. Let this workout beryllium completed by the Joint Committee wrong a play of 3 months and the study beryllium submitted instantly thereafter,” the bid by the NGT dated February 17, 2026 said.
A presumption of the Ghoramara Island, much than 100 km from Kolkata, successful the Sundarban country of the Bay of Bengal. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Bench besides directed that the committee successful its study volition besides bespeak the tentative expenditure, the probable sources of backing and the agencies liable for the implementation of the strategy on with the timeline.
The NGT has taken suo motu cognisance of coastal erosion of the Sundarbans peculiarly Ghoramara Island based connected a media study highlighting that astir 40% of Ghoramara Island whitethorn shrink by 2042 owed to advancing oversea erosion.
Ghoramara Island, located astatine the southernmost extremity of West Bengal adjacent to Sagar Island has borne the maximum brunt of the coastal erosion and has shrunk from 8.59 sq. km successful 1969 to 3.83 sq. km successful 2019. The colonisation of the land has besides shrunk and the fig of residents connected the sinking land are astir 4,000.
Scientific studies bespeak that the Sundarbans collectively mislaid much than 250 sq. km of onshore betwixt 1969 and 2019 owed to coastal erosion.
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The West Bengal Irrigation Department has informed the NGT that it has taken up definite measures for prevention of coastal erosion agelong of magnitude 12.24 km involving ₹549.41 Lakh the NGT pointed retired that nary broad semipermanent ecological extortion strategy has been presented, peculiarly for safeguarding mangrove forests.
The Bench besides noted that the gangetic alluvial delta is experiencing acute erosion owed to geogenic factors, clime change, oversea level rise, cyclonic activity, and anthropogenic interventions specified arsenic upstream dams and reduced sediment flow. The substance volition travel up for proceeding again connected May 28, 2026.
