Inventory of Freshwater Resources in the Sundarbans Landscape, Limited to the part of Landscape Located in India (Anglais)

Water is a prime natural resource, a basic human need and a precious national asset. Water is fundamental to life, livelihood, food security and sustainable development. Planning, development and management of water resources are extremely important for...  Voir la suite Water is a prime natural resource, a basic human need and a precious national asset. Water is fundamental to life, livelihood, food security and sustainable development. Planning, development and management of water resources are extremely important for the development of a fragile landscape like Sundarbans. Experts believe that the nexus between natural resources and water is key to sustainable and equitable economic development and growth in any State or Region. With the increasing population, the freshwater sources are getting exploited all over the world. Surface water is used more often than groundwater due to its easy accessibility. About 2.1 billion people in the world lacked safely managed drinking water services at home in the year 2015. At the same time ‘freshwater is under stress due to its limited supply and increasing demand all over the world’ (State of Environment Report, West Bengal, 2016). Fresh water is not available in plenty everywhere all the time. The demand of water will increase in accordance with the growth of population. The demand of water for a human being is not only restricted to his or her domestic demand. The Sundarbans region is one of the richest ecosystems in the world. The region contains arguably the world’s largest remaining area of mangroves, and is known for its exceptional biodiversity, including numerous threatened species such as the emblematic Royal Bengal tiger and several species of river dolphin (The World Bank, 2014). Although Sundarbans is surrounded by rivers and sea on all sides except north and at the same time crisscrossed by innumerable creeks, there remains water crisis all over Sundarbans, since the water is saline in nature. Even the groundwater in shallow aquifers are quite saline and thereby beyond reach of the common men. In this backdrop, an attempt has been made to assess the freshwater availability in Indian part of Sundarbans.  Réduire