Sunderbans National
Park
| General
Information |
| Place |
24 Paraganas District |
| Best time to visit |
September to March |
| Nearest town |
Gosaba (50 km) |
| Main Attractions |
Royal Bengal Tiger, Crocodiles, Olive ridley turtles,
Migratory Birds |
Established in 1978 in twenty four Paraganas
district, Sunderbans Tiger reserve is spread over an area
of 2608 sq. kms. Sixty percent of the demarcated area of the
Sunderbans sprawling actually over 9630sq.km, is in Bangladesh.
The national park with a core area of 1330sq.km, has been
designated as a World Heritage Site in 1985 and is a part
of the Project Tiger. The Sunderbans has three wildlife sanctuaries
at Sajnekhali, Lothian Island and Haliday Island.
The park has estuarine mangrove eco-system
as it is situated in the deltaic estuaries of the Ganga and
Brahmaputra. The entire inter tidal zone has been designated
as Biosphere Reserve under the Man and Biosphere program.
This littoral forest supports a diversity of trees and shrubs
adopted to conditions and inundation by high tides. Straddling
the rivers Hooghly in the west and Teulia in the east the
park has many small rivers, forested islands besides the vast
stretch of mangrove swamps.
Sunderbans is home to the magnificent Royal
Bengal Tiger. The park harbours the largest number of tigers
among the tiger reserves of the country and is the only Mangrove
tiger land in the world. The man eating tigers here are good
swimmers and eat fish and crab. The other fauna are fishing
cat, water monitor, wild boar, different species of deer,
rhesus monkeys, large numbers of crocodiles and Gangetic dolphin(in
the Raimgangal river) and a variety of other fish, olive Ridley
sea turtles etc. Project tiger has also launched a programme
to protect the Olive ridley sea turtles. Another interesting
place to visit in the Sunderbans is the Sajnekhali Bird Sanctuary
which has a variety of birds such as Brown winged kingfisher,
Grey headed lapwing, Golden backed woodpecker, White swans,
Swamp patridge, Pallas fish eagle etc. There is a crocodile
pool and a mangrove Interpretation centre which houses specimens
of snake, fish and other fauna with sound and light shows
at Sajnekhali. Other places in the Sunderbans are Bhagatpur
Crocodile Project which is a crocodile breeding farm ( access
from Namkhana), Sagar Island, Jambudweep, Sudhanyakali watchtower,
Buriidabri Tiger Project, Netidhopani Watchtower, Haliday
Island.
The best time to visit Sunderbans is between
September and March especially during winters to catch a glimpse
of the Migratory birds. Foreign tourists require permit, which
can be obtained from Writer`s Building, which houses the West
Bengal Secretariat in Kolkata .The address is The Joint Secretary
(Forest), Govt. of West Bengal, 4th Floor, G-Block, Writers'
Building, Calcutta- 700 001.There is a nominal entry fee to
the park payable at Sajnekhali.
Where to stay
Forest lodge and forest rest-houses are
available for accommodation at Sajnekhali (Sunder Cheetal
forest Lodge 60 beds), Bakkhali and Piyali apart from that
there are private accommodations at Sunderban Tiger Camp at
Dayapur.
How to get
there
Sundarbans is accessible only by riverine
waterways.
Air : Nearest airport is
Dum Dum airport at Kolkata (166 kms). Indian Airlines connect
Kolkata with all the major cities in India.
Rail: Nearest railhead
is Canning (48km). From Kolkata there are suburban trains
to Canning (64 km).
Road: There are bus service
from Kolkata to various embarkation points Namkhana, Raidighi,
Sonakhali and Najatare from where private as well as WBTDC's
Motor launch services are available for Sundarbans. The embarkation
points are at a distance of Namkhana (105 km), Sonakhali (100
km), Raidighi (76 km), Canning (64 km), Najatare (92 km) from
Kolkata.
The riverine routes and approximate time
taken from various embarkation points:
- From Namkhana - Bhagabatpur Crocodile Project (2.5 hours)
Sagar Island (2.5 hours) Jambudweep (3.5 hours)
- From Sajnekhali - Sudhanyakhali (40 minutes) Buridabri
(Tiger Project Area) (5 hours) Netidhopari (3.5 hours) Haliday
Island (3 hours)
- From Sonakhali - Gosaba (1 hour)
- From Raidighi - Kalas (5 hours)
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