Journal of Global Resources
Volume 6 (01)August 2019-January 2020
Page 233-237
UGC–CARE Listed Journal in Group D
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

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RISE OF SEA LEVEL AND THE SINKING ISLANDS OF SUNDARBAN REGION: A STUDY
OF MOUSUNI ISLAND IN INDIA
Madhusudan Karmakar, Parthapratim Dey and Madhushree Roy
Assistant Professors in Geography
Maynaguri College, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India
Email: madhukarmakar.2008@rediffmail.com
Abstract: Mousuni, a human habitat island in the Indian Sundarban and located on thesouthernmost tip of Bengal, is under constant threat of inundation caused by sea level rise. Ithas been hugely affecting the lives and livelihood of the communities living around the coastal
region of the Island. The main objective of the present study is to explore the erosional leveland sinking of Mousuni Island and to find out the impact of it on the livelihood of the people.
Based on the primary and secondary data the findings of the present study show that if theerosional activity of engulfing water of Bay of Bengal continues the Mousuni Island will sinkwithin 80 to 100 years. Submergence of the island increases the vulnerability of the poor
people of the island and reducing capacity to cope with the existing problem.
Key words: Erosion Level, Impact Studies, Sea Level, Sinking Island
Introduction
Climate change is a major concern across the globe and this has been directly affecting thecoastal communities of many countries. Sundarban- the southern part of West Bengal, India isa living example of it. Sundarban islands like Sagar, Namkhana, Jambudwip, Ghoramara andMousuni have been affected by the coastal tidal erosion due to increased level of sea water.
Ghoramara and Jambudwip Island have already been deserted. Ghoramara is a vanishingisland with more than 50 percent of its land already eroded out since 1969 (Jana et al., 2012),
while Mousuni is facing the threats of erosion at its southern tip (WWF, 2010). The present
study first explores the overall coastal erosion and inundation problem of different humanhabitat islands of Sundarban region and then it will proceed to study the nature of erosional andinundation problem of Mousuni island. After mentioning the impact of the present erosional
problem the study highlights some preventive measures to save the human habitation and theirlivelihood.
Objectives
The present study embraces the following objectives.
 To know the nature of erosional level and sinking of Mousuni Island
 To explore the impact of livelihood of the people
 To suggest protective measures for preventing the island from flooding
Study Area
Mousuni Island lies in Namkhana block in Kakdwip subdivision of South 24 Parganas district ofWest Bengal, India. There are seven gram panchayats in Namkhana block and Mousuni is oneof these. It is a deltaic island spread on Bay of Bengal. Muri Ganga River in West & NorthWestern fringe, the eastern part is bounded by Pitt's Creek while the southern part is fringed by
the Bay of Bengal (Fig-1). According to 2011 Census the total population of the island is 22073.
The island consists of four villages, such as Baliara, Bagdanga, Kusumtala and Mousuni. The
total area of the Island is 27.1 sq. km.
Literature Review
There are several works and research activities on the rising of sea water level and sinking ofislands since it has been a serious hazard faced by people in different parts of the world.
Bandyopadhyay (1997, 2000, 2004, 2007 & 2009) carries out several works on Sundarban
region. In his work of 1997 he mentions natural environmental hazards and their management233

of Sagar Island. Gopinath (2010) in his work focuses an account of the critical coastal issues of
Sagar Island of Sundarban region. Hazra et.al (2002) in their work mentions the sea level andassociated changes in the Sundarbans. Jana et. al (2012) in their work presents amorphological change study of Ghoramara Island using Multi Temporal Satellite data. In thisstudy erosion problem of Ghoramara island has been highlighted. Mukhopadhyay, (2009) in his
study gives an account of the socio-economic aspects of embankment people of Sundarban
region emphasizing on social justice.
Figure 01: Location Map of the Study Area

Methodology
The present study is based on both primary and secondary data generated throughresearchers’ field survey. In the first phase the secondary data have been collected. Data on
erosional level of some islands of Sundarban like Sagar, Namkhana, Mousuni, Ghoramara andJambudwip and the changes in the land use patterns and land cover classes in Sunderbans
between 2001 and 2009 have been collected from the School of Oceanographic Studies,
Jadavpur University (2010). Loss of area of Mousuni Island from 1977 to 2018 has been picked
up by analysing the images of Landsat 2 MMS (1977), Landsat 5 TM (1989, 1997 and 2007)
and Google Earth Professional (2018). In this case Arc GIS 10.4 is used. On the basis of thetime series analysis of the erosional level of Mousuni island a prediction has been done forMousuni Island. Loss of area of Mousuni Island from 1977 to 2018 has been shown by different
time intervals. Emphasis has been given on the district gazetteers, district statistical handbook,articles, proper published works, research based data, census report, development plans andon the monographs available on the region. On the basis of the secondary data andinformation, a literature review is made by the authors for the meaningful understanding of theproblem of present study. The second phase is related to the collection of primary data. For
obtaining the information on the present erosional and sinking problem and its impact on island
dwellers a random sample survey of 80 households was conducted at two mouzas of Mousuni
Island i.e., Baliara and Kusumtala village from 20th October to 29th October in 2018. These twovillages have been selected for random household survey as the inhabitants of these villages
are severely affected by the coastal erosion and inundation problem. Qualitative and234

quantitative sampling schedule interviews of inhabitants were conducted to understand theground level concerns and priorities.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Nature of Sea Level Rise and Sinking of Area i9n Sundarban Region
Sundarbans has been identified as one of the vulnerable areas in the climate change context
due to its ecological fragility (Jagtap, 2007; Erwin, 2009). Coastal erosion, prolonged inundationand soil salinisation have been discussed vividly in different literatures (Hazra et al., 2002;
Ghosh et al., 2003; Jayappa et al., 2006; Gopinath, 2010). Rising sea levels and river dynamics
such as strong tidal surges put together cause the breach of embankments, which leads tocoastal flooding and destruction of lives and livelihood of the community? Global sea level riseis estimated to be just two millimetres a year and the levels in the Sundarbans delta are rising
3.14 by mm. a year. A one metre rise in sea level could inundate an estimated 17 per cent ofBangladesh and take the entire Sundarbans with it (Hingorani & Raman, 2009). The riverembankments in the Sundarban islands are constructed by mud. The embankments aresupposed to protect the islands from getting inundated during high tide condition, since theaverage height of these islands in most of the places is below the mean sea level. Theembankments are in a dilapidated condition and are no longer suitable with the changing river
dynamics. In this context the erosional level and sinking of some islands of Sundarban arementioned in table-1.
Table 01: Sinking of some islands of Sundarban from 2001 to 2009
IslandsSagar
Namkhana
MousuniGhoramaraJambudwip

Area in 2001
(sq. km.)244.434
150.155
28.283
5.339
6.242

Area in 2009(sq. km.)239.091145.488
27.643
4.564
4.979

Loss or sinking ofarea (sq. km.)
5.343
4.667
0.64
0.774
1.263

Percent of Loss orsinking area
2.18
3.10
2.28
14.52
20.19

Source: S.Hazra, K. Samanta, A. Mukhopadhyay & A. Akhand (2010). Temporal change Detection study ofSundarban, School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University

Sinking of Mousuni Island
According to 2011 Census the total population of the Island is 22073. The island consists offour villages, such as Baliara, Bagdanga, Kusumtala and Mousuni. 2011 Census shows thatBaliara has a population of 8672, Bagdanga 4160, Kusumtala 5663 and Mousuni 3578. Of
these erosional problem is much active at Baliara and Kusumtala village. These two villages
occupy 64.94 percent population of the total population of Mousuni Island. The western coast ofBaliara and southern and western parts of Kusumtala are much affected by the engulfing water.
People living near these parts are always in a state of panic due to constant threat of water
intrusion and flood in the high tide situation. The rising sea level, continuous and rapid erosionof the coastline encourage the sinking of the island that have forced the inhabitants of the area
to relocate further inland in this fragile island. From the obtained image of Landsat 2MMS(1977), Landsat 5 TM (1989,1997,2007) and Google Earth Professional (2018) it is foundthat 24.51 percent area of the Mousuni Island has been lost from 1977 to 2018. Sea level riseis responsible for this aggression of erosional activity of Bay of Bengal. The North western andwestern parts of the Island are much affected as this portion is open to the angry wavy tidal
actions of Bay of Bengal. The Eastern part is eroded less as this portion is not open to Bay ofBengal and it is surrounded by calm Pitt’s creek. The percentage loss of area of Mousuni Islandfrom 1977 to 1989 was 4.18 percent and it reached to maximum (9.73 percent) during theperiod of 1997-2007. The period from 2007 to 2018 experiences almost the same trend of lossof Island area i.e., 8.75 percent (Fig.3). In fact the erosional activity and related sinking ofMousuni Island have been aggressive since Aila storm of 2009. Aila was merely a wakeup call.
The real danger is yet to strike. Fig.2 substantiates the fact the increasing submergence of theMousuni Island. If this erosional activity of engulfing water of Bay of Bengal continues theMousuni Island will sink completely within 80 to100 years and its position will be like the fate ofLohachara, Suparibhanga (Bedford), New Moore Island and adjacent Ghoramara andJambudwip Island.

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Figure 02: Eroded area & sinking of Figure 03: Loss of area (in percentage)
Mousuni Island from 1977 to 2018of Mousuni island due to sinking from1977 to 201840
35

Area in percentage

30
25
20
15
1050
1977

1989

1997

2007

2018

Years

Sources: Landsat 2 MMS (1977), Landsat 5 TM (1989, 1997, 2007) Google Earth Professional (2018)

Impact Studies
 According to Mousuni Gram Panchayet Office about 2,200 families have been displaced oraffected severely by the rising sea in Mousuni. The household survey of Baliara andKusumtala- the most affected villages of Mousuni Island reveals that 54.84 percent people
have lost their lands and the percentage of people who lost their houses is 38.71 percent.
 The survey also reflects that the fishing activity has been affected much (40.38 percent)due to erosion and engulfing of water. As the sea is engulfing the Island the fishing fields
have been changed and so fishing activity has been affected much.


Again due to invasion of saline water into the agricultural lands the farming activity has also
been affected. The field survey also shows that 72 percent people have lost theiragricultural lands due to salinity. The agriculture dependent community then takes up odd
jobs as daily wage labourers due to lack of livelihood facilities and many people migrate toother areas in search of jobs. Thus migration rate is found to be high in the island i.e., 62
percent as is recorded in the present household survey.
According to the field survey report 88 percent people say that the local Panchayat or Blockor District administration do not take any step for the present erosion problem. Leaders
come and give assurance to build embankments in the erosion prone areas but as the time
passes their assurance fades away.
Agriculture is the major livelihood of the four villages of the island. Due to high tides,
cyclones and storm surges, and problems of water stagnation, agriculture fields become
highly saline, thus, turning them sterile for years.

Measures for Saving the Inhabitants of Mousuni Island
Some immediate steps have to be carried out to mitigate the present problem of Mousuni
Island. These include Embankment building along the north western part, western and south eastern part is acrucial step to save the Island from sea aggression.
 Shore protections with mangrove plantations and road network development can help toreduce the vulnerability of the Island. It has been observed that strong coastal vegetation is236

amongst most reliable natural defences of an island at times of ocean induced flooding,strong winds and against coastal erosion (DIRAM Report,2008).
If government is unable to solve the erosional problem of Mousuni Island through the above
steps the govt. should at least remove all the erosion-affected island dwellers to other areas
with proper rehabilitation programmes as it is done for Tuvalu islanders of Eastern Pacificocean. Thus it is the proper time to act on humanitarian point of view.

Findings
Sea level rise aggravated erosions have found a beachhead in different parts of Sundarban
region. Mousuni Island has been affected much by this problem and its western, northern andsouthern parts have been gradually engulfing or sinking. If this erosional activity of engulfing
water of Bay of Bengal continues the Mousuni Island will sink within 80 to 100 years.
Submergence of the island increases the vulnerability of the poor people of Mousuni Island andreducing capacity to cope with the existing problem. Large scale outmigration has been very
active in the island as there is no alternative way of livelihood of the island dwellers.
Conclusion
The present situation on the ground of Mousuni Island is nothing but a short of an ecologicaldisaster. So there is an urgent need of State and Central government assistance along withinternational attention. Therefore it is now proper time to pay much attention to the sinking
problem of Mousuni and other human habitat islands of Sundarban region.
References
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Island Reports, G. Dh. Thinadhoo – Part 1. Disaster Risk Management Programme UNDP
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Monitor. Assest, 160, 555–561. (Published online, 2009).
4. Hazra S, Ghosh, T. Dasgupta, R. Sen, G.K. (2002) Sea Level and Associated Changes inthe Sundarbans, Science and Culture, 68 (9-12), 309 – 321.
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12. Mukhopadhyay, A. (2009) ‘On the wrong side of the fence: embankment people and social
justice in the Sundarbans’ in Pradip Kumar Bose and Samir Kumar Das (eds.) Social
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