Indian Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) area lies in the south-western part of Ganges Brahmaputr... more Indian Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) area lies in the south-western part of Ganges Brahmaputra delta and supports 4.43 million population. Though crisscrossed by numerous rivers and bestowed by good amount of rainfall annually, scarcity of potable water is a major problem in SBR. Most of the rivers in Sundarbans have been disconnected from their sources and don’t receive upstream flows. Shallow ground water in SBR is brackish to saline while fresh groundwater occurs below 300m depth. To achieve the sustainable development goal of providing water for all in the region, assessment of water demand, its availability and accessibility are essential. From the population and its projection, the potable water demand has been estimated as 9.21 mcm and 22.68mcm in the SBR for the years 1991 and 2051 respectively. The available potable water in Sundarbans is not adequate to meet the need of the future population. The people of SBR mostly depend on spot water sources which are not always ea...
Ground Water Development - Issues and Sustainable Solutions, 2018
The Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR), India lies in the tide-dominated southern part of deltaic ... more The Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR), India lies in the tide-dominated southern part of deltaic West Bengal and supports 4.43 million strong populations. Freshwater is a scarce resource in the SBR though it is traversed by numerous creeks and rivulets and receives a huge amount of precipitation during the monsoon months. Scarcity of freshwater above and below the ground during the dry season and high salinity of soil and water make it very difficult for the people of the SBR to secure their livelihood. The present paper assesses these sectoral demand and availability of water in 19 administrative blocks of the SBR. Increasing water demand of the ever-increasing population leads to water deficit in most of the blocks during dry season. In this study, the annual demands of drinking and domestic water in the SBR have been estimated at 8.08 million cubic metres (mcm) and 105.1 mcm, respectively. The water demand for agriculture has been calculated as 2782.83 mcm. It is observed that th...
The Sundarban lies in the southern tidally active delta plain of the Ganges Brahmaputra Meghna (G... more The Sundarban lies in the southern tidally active delta plain of the Ganges Brahmaputra Meghna (GBM Basin) river system, fringing the Bay of Bengal. Sundarban, the abode of Heritiera (Sundari) mangroves has been nourished for long by the rivers which are now mostly disconnected from the Ganga-Padma system. The present study identifies the disconnected river reaches and the deterioration of ecosystem services under the reduced flow condition. Assessment of environmental flows required to maintain or to improve the present level of ecosystem services is a prerequisite of any intervention on fresh water regime in the region. The present paper suggests an appropriate methodology to assess the environmental flows of the arterial rivers of Indian Sundarban, constrained by unavailability of long term scientific data. The holistic ‘Building Block methodology (BBM)’appears to be a suitable approach if modified appropriately for Sundarban. A pilot assessment of environment flows, supported by IUCN has been conducted in some specific river reaches to test the efficiency of the proposed methodology. The study reveals that the methodology is robust and efficient to predict the flow requirements of the upstream rivers to improve the ecosystem function and ecosystem services in the Sundarban eco region. The pilot study observes that the present level of flow in the river systems is inadequate to sustain the ecosystem function and the in-stream flow requirement is more than the presently available flow. This of course warrants a paradigm shift for the present concept and practice for the assessment of Environmental flows, particularly for critically endangered ecosystem like Sundarban.
The world’s largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans, along with the brackish water in the deltaic sys... more The world’s largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans, along with the brackish water in the deltaic system and unique estuarine environment with the mangrove forest has become one of the richest biodiversity zones in the world. Sundarbans covered near about 10,000 km2 which is shared between India (40%) and Bangladesh (60%) though the ecosystem of the Sundarbans cannot be divided by the international boundary. A reach number of study have been conducted on the biodiversity and the threaten animals of the Sundarbans but very few of them have focused on the demand of fresh water flow of this entire ecosystem. This study aims to develop a consensus methodology to assess the environmental flow (e-flow) for entire Sundarbans of Bangladesh and India. As the e-flow is defined as the quantity, timing and quality of water flows required to sustain the ecosystems and the livelihoods depended upon these ecosystems, four basic methodologies(Hydrological, Hydraulic Rating, Habitat Simulation and Holistic Approach)defined by Tharme, 2003, have been extensively desk reviewed as well as previous and present e-flow assessments studies conducted in both Bangladesh and India and also in other countries of the world have been incorporated under this study. A number of stakeholder consultation meetings have been conducted in both Bangladesh and India along with relevant experts. Considering the context of the study (Sundarbans ecosystem), acceptability & technical feasibility of the method and data inventory (quality & quantity) and scientific robustness the overall synchronization of reviews and consultations lead to propose the Building Block Method (BBM) under the Holistic Approach Methodology with a customized version named as Customized Building Block Method (CBBM). This study have concurrently developed a further study framework defining the scope of work and the e-flow component matrix along with direct and indirect indicators. This study could be a pioneer research for the policy directives considering IWRM for environmental flow maintenance special for the issue of water shearing in negotiation table. Keywords:Mangrove, Sundarbans, Environmental Flow, Ecosystem, Building Block Method
Indian Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) area lies in the south-western part of Ganges Brahmaputr... more Indian Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) area lies in the south-western part of Ganges Brahmaputra delta and supports 4.43 million population. Though crisscrossed by numerous rivers and bestowed by good amount of rainfall annually, scarcity of potable water is a major problem in SBR. Most of the rivers in Sundarbans have been disconnected from their sources and don’t receive upstream flows. Shallow ground water in SBR is brackish to saline while fresh groundwater occurs below 300m depth. To achieve the sustainable development goal of providing water for all in the region, assessment of water demand, its availability and accessibility are essential. From the population and its projection, the potable water demand has been estimated as 9.21 mcm and 22.68mcm in the SBR for the years 1991 and 2051 respectively. The available potable water in Sundarbans is not adequate to meet the need of the future population. The people of SBR mostly depend on spot water sources which are not always ea...
Ground Water Development - Issues and Sustainable Solutions, 2018
The Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR), India lies in the tide-dominated southern part of deltaic ... more The Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR), India lies in the tide-dominated southern part of deltaic West Bengal and supports 4.43 million strong populations. Freshwater is a scarce resource in the SBR though it is traversed by numerous creeks and rivulets and receives a huge amount of precipitation during the monsoon months. Scarcity of freshwater above and below the ground during the dry season and high salinity of soil and water make it very difficult for the people of the SBR to secure their livelihood. The present paper assesses these sectoral demand and availability of water in 19 administrative blocks of the SBR. Increasing water demand of the ever-increasing population leads to water deficit in most of the blocks during dry season. In this study, the annual demands of drinking and domestic water in the SBR have been estimated at 8.08 million cubic metres (mcm) and 105.1 mcm, respectively. The water demand for agriculture has been calculated as 2782.83 mcm. It is observed that th...
The Sundarban lies in the southern tidally active delta plain of the Ganges Brahmaputra Meghna (G... more The Sundarban lies in the southern tidally active delta plain of the Ganges Brahmaputra Meghna (GBM Basin) river system, fringing the Bay of Bengal. Sundarban, the abode of Heritiera (Sundari) mangroves has been nourished for long by the rivers which are now mostly disconnected from the Ganga-Padma system. The present study identifies the disconnected river reaches and the deterioration of ecosystem services under the reduced flow condition. Assessment of environmental flows required to maintain or to improve the present level of ecosystem services is a prerequisite of any intervention on fresh water regime in the region. The present paper suggests an appropriate methodology to assess the environmental flows of the arterial rivers of Indian Sundarban, constrained by unavailability of long term scientific data. The holistic ‘Building Block methodology (BBM)’appears to be a suitable approach if modified appropriately for Sundarban. A pilot assessment of environment flows, supported by IUCN has been conducted in some specific river reaches to test the efficiency of the proposed methodology. The study reveals that the methodology is robust and efficient to predict the flow requirements of the upstream rivers to improve the ecosystem function and ecosystem services in the Sundarban eco region. The pilot study observes that the present level of flow in the river systems is inadequate to sustain the ecosystem function and the in-stream flow requirement is more than the presently available flow. This of course warrants a paradigm shift for the present concept and practice for the assessment of Environmental flows, particularly for critically endangered ecosystem like Sundarban.
The world’s largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans, along with the brackish water in the deltaic sys... more The world’s largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans, along with the brackish water in the deltaic system and unique estuarine environment with the mangrove forest has become one of the richest biodiversity zones in the world. Sundarbans covered near about 10,000 km2 which is shared between India (40%) and Bangladesh (60%) though the ecosystem of the Sundarbans cannot be divided by the international boundary. A reach number of study have been conducted on the biodiversity and the threaten animals of the Sundarbans but very few of them have focused on the demand of fresh water flow of this entire ecosystem. This study aims to develop a consensus methodology to assess the environmental flow (e-flow) for entire Sundarbans of Bangladesh and India. As the e-flow is defined as the quantity, timing and quality of water flows required to sustain the ecosystems and the livelihoods depended upon these ecosystems, four basic methodologies(Hydrological, Hydraulic Rating, Habitat Simulation and Holistic Approach)defined by Tharme, 2003, have been extensively desk reviewed as well as previous and present e-flow assessments studies conducted in both Bangladesh and India and also in other countries of the world have been incorporated under this study. A number of stakeholder consultation meetings have been conducted in both Bangladesh and India along with relevant experts. Considering the context of the study (Sundarbans ecosystem), acceptability & technical feasibility of the method and data inventory (quality & quantity) and scientific robustness the overall synchronization of reviews and consultations lead to propose the Building Block Method (BBM) under the Holistic Approach Methodology with a customized version named as Customized Building Block Method (CBBM). This study have concurrently developed a further study framework defining the scope of work and the e-flow component matrix along with direct and indirect indicators. This study could be a pioneer research for the policy directives considering IWRM for environmental flow maintenance special for the issue of water shearing in negotiation table. Keywords:Mangrove, Sundarbans, Environmental Flow, Ecosystem, Building Block Method
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Papers by Tuhin Bhadra
Keywords:Mangrove, Sundarbans, Environmental Flow, Ecosystem, Building Block Method
Keywords:Mangrove, Sundarbans, Environmental Flow, Ecosystem, Building Block Method