In news The devastation caused by cyclone Yaas in West Bengal led to the huge ingress (entry) of saline water which affected thousands of acres of agricultural land.
The West Bengal government has been distributing relief and compensation and also salt tolerant varieties of paddy to farmers.
What are the consequences of the ingress of saline water?
It kills standing crops and increases salinity of the soil
It makes the cultivation of regular high-yielding varieties almost impossible for the next few years which may result in food crisis in the region
About Sundarbans
Sundarbans is a vast contiguous mangrove forest ecosystem in the coastal region of Bay of Bengal spread over India and Bangladesh on the delta (world’s largest) of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers.
It contains the world’s largest mangrove forests.
It is the only mangrove forest in the world inhabited by tigers.
Sundarbans Tiger Reserve was created in 1973.
Sundarbans National Park, established in 1984, constitutes a core region within the tiger reserve.
It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.
Sunderbans was designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2001.
Sundarban Wetland, India was recognised as the ‘Wetland of International Importance’ under the Ramsar Convention in January 2019.
