News Desk : dhakamirror.com
The forest department officials on Tuesday said that so far they found 39 dead deer and a pig in the Sundarbans after the severe cyclone Remal that hit the forest on Sunday.
Primarily they have estimated infrastructural damage of Tk 6.27 crore in the forest while the total damage, including animals and plants, could not be calculated yet.
Officials said that the cyclone with over 100-kilometre per hour speed hit the forest hard on Sunday after noon with 8-10 feet high tidal surge inundating all 80 freshwater ponds in the forest.
The tidal saline water drained out after 48-hours stay in the forest which the officials estimated the record longest stay of salt water in the mangrove forest in the recorded history of 17 years.
They feared a huge impact on animals this time after cyclone Sidr in 2007.
‘We could not calculate total damage of the forest yet. Forest officials could not enter into the forest as the Bay of Bengal still very rough,’ said Mihir Kumar Doe, Khulna circle conservator of forest.
They feared more losses of flora and fauna in the forest because of the unusual duration of flooding and crisis of freshwater.
Officials estimated that they would need at least four more days to assess the situation.
Officials feared that they were going to count the worst damage in the Sundarbans in terms of its wildlife.
Saltwater entered into the world’s largest mangrove forest around 12:30pm on Sunday and drained out around 11:30am on Tuesday.
They said that usually saline water drained out from the forest within three-four hours in the past cyclones.
Wild animals turned vulnerable for the long-time stay of saline water at a high level in the forest, they said.
Sundarbans is the house of huge diversity that shelters 40 species of mammals, 260 species of birds and 35 species of reptiles. Royal Bengal Tiger is the signature animal of the rainforest.
Mihir Kumar Doe said that there are only eight shelters for animals in the forest which is very insufficient.
Mihir said that due to the tidal surge, all the 80 ponds which are the sources of freshwater for wild-animals in the forest were inundated.
‘No freshwater source now exists from where animals can drink,’ said Mihir.
Jahangirnagar University zoology professor M Monirul H Khan said that the government must create more shelters for wild-animals.
He demanded authorities take measures for freshwater restoration in the forest as soon as possible.
International Union for Conservation of Nature country director Shaikh Muhammad Mehedi Ahsan asked authorities to conduct a rapid damage assessment of wildlife and forest.
‘Rescue injured wildlife and bring back them to forest after proper treatment to minimise fatality,’ he demanded.
Sundarbans, the over 10,000-square km forest, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a source of livelihood of over 14 million people living in Bangladesh and India.
The forest protected the country embracing many storms particularly cyclones originated in the Bay of Bengal.
In 2023, Sundarbans, located along the Bay of Bengal in south-western part of Bangladesh, braced cyclones Amphan and Midhili.
Earlier in 2007, 2009, 2019, and 2021, the mangrove forest protected thousands of people living in neighbouring areas from cyclones Sidr, Aila, Yaash, and Bulbul.
