Place: 24 Paraganas
district, West Bengal
Best time to visit: September to March
Nearest town: Gosaba (50 km)
Main attraction: 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. Anothe
r 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, Tel: 225-5601 Extn 411/754.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. For
reservation contact Field Director, Mobile: 911855280, Telefax: 03218-55280, E-mail : Contact
Us
.
The cruise launchers MV Chitralekha and MV Sarbajaya has arrangements for stay
on board with four meals a day. Contact Tourism centre Kolkata
Phone : 91-33-2485917/2488271, E-Mail: Contact
Us
for reservations.
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)
Contact
-
Field Director,
Sundarbans Tiger Reserve,
P.O Canning,
District 24 Parganas (South),
West Bengal.
Mobile: 911855280
Telefax: 03218-55280
E-mail : Contact
Us
-
West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation
3/2 B.B.D. Bag (East),
Calcutta - 1, India
Phone : 91-33-2485917/2488271
Fax: 2485168
E-Mail: Contact
Us
-
For Private Launches
West Bengal Launch Owners' Syndicate,
Kolkata
