About Sunderban
National Park:
Some believe that the name Sunderbans is derived
from 'Sundri' - a plant found in the local
mangroves - and 'bans'meaning forest. Others
believe the name means 'beautiful forest'
('sunder' = beautiful, and 'bans' = forest). The
Sunderbans, extending over an
area of 1,000,000 hectares, is the world's
largest delta, formed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra
and Meghana rivers. The region has extensive
mangrove forests and the contours are in a
constant state of flux, caused by the monsoon
flooding each year. Roughly a third of the delta
is water, consisting of rivers, channels and
tidal creeks up to 5 kilometers wide. The
Sunderbans falls both within
the India and Bangladesh, the latter having the
larger share of the delta. On the Indian side
there is a national park overlooking the Bay of
Bengal.
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The Sunderbans West, South and
East wildlife sanctuaries in Bangladesh are also
at the southern extremities of the delta. The
Sunderbans parks are covered in
mangrove forests of which there are 3 main
zones, depending on the level of salt in the
soil and water a freshwater zone, a moderately
saline zone, and a saline zone. Fishing, timber
extraction and honey collection are the main
human activities allowed within the
Sunderbans. The four Sunderbans
national parks have been lumped together as they
all share common features of the estuarine
mangrove ecosystem. The main attractions of the
Sunderbans are the Tiger, of
which the delta harbor large reptiles like the
Monitor Lizard, Estuarine Crocodile and the
Olive Ridley Turtle, for which there is a
conservation programme in the Indian park. The
Leopard, Indian Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros,
Swamp Deer, Hog Deer and Water Buffalo have all
become locally extinct from the delta in recent
decades.
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Best Season
(Sunderban National Park):
The best time to visit Sunderbans
is during winters between September and
March.
Access(Sunderban National Park) :
The Sunderbans are not
easily accessible. To get to the
Sunderbans national park in India
the nearest airport is Calcutta, the
nearest railway station is Canning, and
the nearest town is Gosaba. From the park
headquarters at Canning take the country
motor launch (5 hours) to Sajnekhali.
There are regular bus services from
Kolkata (Calcutta) to this place. But the
main areas of the sanctuary can only be
accessed by riverine waterways. The best
and the safest way to visit Sunderbans is
on conducted tours. One can also avail the
services of the private vessels from
Canning, Gosaba or Basanti.
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