Location & Accessibility of Sunderban National Park: - The sunderban are located in the world’s largest delta spread between two nations India and Bangladesh, The Indian side of the Sunderbans is in the 24 pargana district of west Bengal state of India. Kolkata is the nearest metro city very well connected to all parts of India. There is an international airport along with very good rail links with express trains to all parts of India. Kolkata is also very well connected to other parts of India through a network of four lane very good highways.
History and features of SunderbanThis is one of the largest tiger reserves of India spread in an area of more than 2000 square kilometers, this is the area of Gangetic delta, a place where the river Ganga makes a unique mangrove forest. The sundari mangroves which abound in this area lent the name sunderban to this forest. In 1973 this forest was proclaimed to be a tiger reserve further in 1977 it was declared a wild life sanctuary and in 1984 the UNESCO announced it to be a UNESCO world heritage site. This tiger reserve is home to more than 400 royal Bengal tigers who have amazingly adapted to the local conditions. These tigers are seen swimming efficiently in the saline waters of sunderban. The unique topology of sunderbans has enabled it to remain out of hand for humans as efforts for reclaiming the land of sunderbans has failed miserably over the time. The unique eco system of sunderbans is based entirely on the dense mangroves. This area has numerous small tributaries of the river which render a unique character to this area, there are 54 small islands in the Sunderban national park.
This area not only has a unique topology but has a unique climate too. Being near to the bay of Bengal the area experiences a very heavy rainfall during the monsoon season starting from June to the September month. The average temperature of the sunderban remains in the range of 20 Degree Celsius to 48 Degree Celsius. The animals of sunderban adapt very well to these harsh conditions coupled with very high salinity and water logging. The mangroves of sunderbans have a unique feature of pneumatophoree an adaptation of the sundari mangroves where the roots are transformed for easy respiration. The roots rise above the grand level and form a unique feature.
Flora and fauna of Sunderbans
Flora- The primary flora of sunderbans comprises of the sundari mangroves which stretch hundreds of kilometers rendering a unique character to this national park. The rising roots of dense mangroves with interspersed water channels define the jungles of sunderbans. The area also boasts of more than 60 plants species, making the sunderbans national park.
Fauna- Sunderbans is famous for its 400 royal Bengal tigers apart from them the park has wild boars, mongoose, fishing cats, macaques etc. The park also has a very rich avian population comprising of myenah, teals, gulls, kingfishers, falcons, wood peckers, ibis etc.
Since this area is all water logged it has a very rich treasure of aquatic fauna comprising of crabs, prawns, shrimps, various types of fish, frogs, toads, etc. The park has saline water crocodiles, deadly snakes such as kobra, russeviper, water snakes, pit viper etc.
Accommodation at Sunderbans- Sunderbans can be easily accessed from the metro city Kolkata which has hotels suiting all budgets and categories. If you are desirous of staying in the sunderbans the Sajnekhali, Bakhali and Piyali have accommodation facilities as forest lodge, rest houses and budget properties.
