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LIVELIHOOD |
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The Sundarban are a wilderness
encroached by men. On the bigger
rivers transportation by ship is
possible, into the smaller
creeks only country boats can
enter. The major means of
transportation are water based
in the Sundarban. Anything,
that is not available locally
has to be brought in by boat.
Accordingly the shores are well
connected by this traffic and
many settlements are located
there. The hinterland is
connected with the shore by a
network of paths. Step by step
the muddy paths are being paved,
some as well asphalted. Cars are
very rare, on some major routes
motorized rikshaw taxis
communicate. Bicycles are
facilitating personal traffic
whenever the quality of the
paths allows using them.
Bicycles, fuel, bricks…almost
everything had to be brought in
by boat.
Most of the people in the
Sundarban are fishermen or
farmers. Houses are built with
locally available materials:
timber, mud, paddy straw. Often
the houses are surrounded by
paddy fields, in which families
grow paddy and – in a small
scale – vegetables. Agriculture
in the Sundarban is depended
on the rainfalls during the
rainy season. They are
sufficient for growing paddy,
but normally allow only one
yield.
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The Sundarban are a rich
fishing ground. Yet the
fishermen’s life is not easy.
The fishing nets are still often
knotted by hand, the weirs
plaited manually. Fishing is
still handwork, yet over fishing
increasingly becomes a
challenge. The protected areas
in the National Park are
important breeding grounds and
are strictly protected by the
park rangers accordingly.
Collecting the rare mangrove
honey today is allowed only
during special times and in
selected areas. |
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The market days are a big and
important event. Farmers and
fishermen sell their products
and purchase what they cannot
produce themselves. Trades people
from other areas offer all kinds
of curios. People come from near
and far and thus the market days
are an important platform for
communication and information.
Saturday morning is busy-ness
time.
Electricity mostly derives from
diesel generators, increasingly
by solar power as well. It will
take some time, until street
lamps light at least the major
paths. So long people stay
depended on battery pocket
lamps, if they do not want to
roam in complete darkness. For
example, when the market visit
took longer than expected. Or
when it got late with the card
play. |
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Again and again men in the
Sundarban are attacked by wild
animals – sharks, crocodiles, or
tigers. Especially when
fishermen or honey collectors
enter the dense mangrove forests
they are exposed to danger. The
fencing around the protected
area made by the national park
administration protects in
double regard: the tigers from
men (poaching has become very
rare), and the men from straying
tigers. When men entered the
forests in earlier times, they
wore a mask on the back of their
heads. It is said that the tiger
never attacks from the front.
Bonbibi, the Goddess of
Forests, is widely worshiped.
Before fishermen go out it is
obligatory that they ask the
Deity for support and safety.
For the big festival Bonbibi
Puja, celebrated once a year,
artists form splendid idols
using paddy straw and mud. |
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The
Landscape
The
Sundarban
are the
largest
mangrove
forest
worldwide;
they
cover 60
per cent
of
India’s
total
mangrove
area.
Roughly
90 per
cent of
all
Indian
mangrove
species
are
found
here.
The
mangroves
play an
important
role as
a buffer
zone as
they
protect
the
fauna,
the
island
and the
alluvial
soils
from
rises in
sea
level,
torrential
rain and
cyclones.
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The
Fauna
The
Sundarban
are home
to a
huge
variety
of
species,
out of
which
the
Royal
Bengal
Tiger (panthera
tigris)
can be
named as
the most
significant
flagship
species.
Only in
the
Sundarban
it shows
distinct
amphibian
behavioral
patterns.
The
tigers
roam the
entire
area,
sometimes
crossing
several
kilometres
swimming.
Moreover
the
Sundarban
are home
to many
amphibiae,
reptiliae,
fish and
mammals
as well
as more
than 180
bird
species.
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The
Climate
The
average
temperature
is from
8.2
degree
Celsius
to 34.7
degree
celsius.
The
annual
rainfall
is 1500
to 2500
mm, the
relative
humidity
between
62 and
88 per
cent.
The wind
speed is
from 1
to 6
km/h,
but
during
cyclones
sometimes
speed up
to 160
km/h is
measured.
Per year
4 to 8
cyclones
afflict
the
area. |
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More... |
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