Rising sea, shrinking sands erode vibrancy of Ganga Sagar Mela

Subject: Geography

Section: Places in news

Context:

The Ganga Sagar Mela at the Kapil Muni temple on Sagar Island in West Bengal is facing challenges due to rising sea levels and beach erosion.

Details:

The West Bengal government is seeking “national fair” status for the religious congregation due to its uniqueness and spiritual significance.
The beach in front of the temple is covered with mud.
The government has installed tetrapods, a type of wave-dissipating concrete block, to address erosion, and their effectiveness will be assessed after the monsoon.
There is the formation of a char land near Sagar Island due to sediment deposition.
Rising sea levels are bringing water close to the Kapil Muni temple, and previous temples of Kapil Muni have submerged in the sea.
Reason for coastal erosion:
- Human interventions, including the removal of sand dunes and vegetation for Mela ground extension
- Violations of Coastal Regulation Zone in constructions on Sagar Island
- The impact of reduced sediment influx from the Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra river system, leading to land loss in the Sundarbans.

Sagar Island:

It is an island in the Ganges delta, lying on the continental shelf of Bay of Bengal about 100 km (54 nautical miles) south of Kolkata.
Although Sagar Island is a part of Sundarbans, it does not have any tiger habitation or mangrove forests or small river tributaries as is characteristic of the overall Sundarban delta.
This island is a place of Hindu pilgrimage. Every year on the day of Makar Sankranti, Hindus gather to take a holy dip at the confluence of river Ganges and Bay of Bengal and offer prayers in the Kapil Muni Temple.
Kolkata Port Trust has a pilot station and a light house.

Islands of Sundarbans

Source: TH