The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, is like our mother who endures adversity but protects us. It safeguards the coastal areas, offering protection from Nature's fury. In recent memory, two of the deadliest super cyclones-Sidr in 2007 and Aila in 2009-hit the coastal areas of Bangladesh. After these devastating cyclones, other severe storms made landfall, including Fani and Bulbul in 2019, Amphan in 2020, and Yaas in 2021. Each time the protective Sundarbans played the role of a saviour against Nature's ferocity. It was no different at the time of Remal.
The Sundarbans, our first line of defence against natural disasters, once again safeguarded the nation from cyclone Remal. It saves us but pays a heavy price in terms of the forest's ecosystem, wildlife, and biodiversity. The flora and fauna of the forest sacrifice their lives to save us. Although cyclone Remal is over, the grim aftermath is starting to unfold.
Videos and photographs are surfacing, showing the dead deer scattered across the forest floor as floodwaters recede. How excruciating! It is like the picture of great warriors who won the war by sacrificing lives to save us. According to forest officials, at least 39 deer perished and 17 others were rescued. Sadly, this is likely just the tip of the iceberg. The tidal surge, reaching heights of 10-12 feet, inundated the entire Sundarbans. Many trees were uprooted, and hundreds of freshwater ponds inside the forest have been submerged and become salinised, causing an acute drinking water crisis for animals.
If the Sundarbans survive, Bangladesh will survive as it takes care of us. But who will take care of it? Bangladesh aims to be a developed country by 2041. What will be the condition of the Sundarbans then? Will it become a scapegoat for 'development'? We don't want a developed Bangladesh at the cost of destroying our "savior mother," the Sundarbans.
Samia Jahan Shefa
Student
Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Jashore University of Science and Technology
shefasamia8@gmail.com