In the next few days, lakhs of devotees will descend on the Sagar Island in the Sunderbans archipelago of West Bengal to take a holy dip, where the Hooghly river enters the Bay of Bengal, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. They are unaware of the festival’s environmental impact on the island.
Sagar is the largest island in the Indian Sunderbans system, boasting an area of 251 square km and a population of 2.10 lakh as per the 2011 census. Despite its size, the erosion of certain parts owing to the rising sea level is causing its residents concern.
In July 2014, at least 10 villages were submerged in high tide, and this exposed the vulnerability of the island, like the other smaller islands of the unique ecosystem.
While State government officials admit that no detailed environmental assessment has been done in the recent past, some recent studies show that on the one hand, the issue of pollution has not been addressed and on the other, the island’s tourism potential has not been tapped.
Experts say the number of devotees gathering on a particular beach during the Mela is five to six lakhs, almost three times the island’s population.
At least two recent papers, produced by researchers of the School of Oceanographic Studies (SOS), Jadavpur University, have looked at the issue of sustainability of the Mela and the island’s tourism potential.
‘Impact of Gangasagar Mela on Sustainability of Sagar Island,’ published in 2012 in the International Journal of Research in Chemistry and Environment, pointed to an increase in fecal coliform bacteria in the surface water of the beach used by the pilgrims. The paper said the inhabitants of the island living near the Mela ground complained of obnoxious smell and communicable diseases.
“The authority needs to limit the gathering according to the… capacity of the Gangasagar Mela ground which depends on infrastructure such as housing, latrine, toilet and bathing ghat [so as] to minimise pollution,” said the paper authored by Tuhin Ghosh of the SOS and Rituparna Hazra and Rajarshi Mitra.
Another paper published by Prof. Ghosh and others at International Journal of Innovative Research & Development in 2014 looks at the tourism potential of the island under the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria.
