-The Hindu The rush to deliver essential supplies reveals unusual vignettes from isolated yet unforgotten islands of the archipelago Kumirmari (Sunderbans): Nearly a month after cyclone Amphan battered the Sunderbans, the archipelago appeared to be healing — its clay embankments were being repaired and connectivity had been restored. But a visit to one of its most isolated areas, which has braved the cyclone and lockdown, threw up interesting sights. Please click here to...

-The Hindu For the first time in India, a whole region has recorded the presence of pesticides and PAH in its natural sources of water and surface sediments Kolkata: Groundwater as well as river water in the western Bengal basin has high concentrations of pesticides and toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a study authored by a group of scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur has revealed. The researchers tested hundreds...

-The Telegraph The Sunderban region needs to be more effectively represented in Parliament Immediately after the schedule of the seventeenth Lok Sabha election was declared, a news item appeared that said dwellers of the mangrove forests of the Sunderbans have demanded immediate implementation of the Forest Rights Act in the islands and declared that they would vote for candidates who support their cause. This demand was articulated by the Jana Sramajibi Manch,...

-The Hindu Most migrants are in the age group of 20-30 years Kolkata: Economic reasons are the precipitating factor for migration in the Indian Bengal Delta that comprises the Sunderbans reveals an international study titled Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation (DECMA).     The study also points out that there is huge gender disparity when it comes to those migrating from the region. The study which covers 51 blocks of districts of...

-The Economic Times KOLKATA: West Bengal's agriculture department has decided to encourage farmers to cultivate extinct varieties of rice is drawing up plans to create a market for them. The department is also helping farmers to adopt organic farming methods. Agriculture department officials said that these indigenous varieties of rice, which are also known as folk rice, have properties which make them suitable for cultivating in particular regions and are also highly...