Kolkata might have no fresh water in the next two decades...all its aquifers might turn saline...It has already started..read the link below or the pasted article beneath the link....
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KOLKATA: Imagine being caught in a cyclonic storm that floods Kolkata, submerging the length and breadth of the city from Dum Dum to Tollygunge.
Giant tidal waves lashing the streets, sweeping away homes and offices, uprooting lamp posts and tossing away vehicles. If this sounds like a post-tsunami scene witnessed in Pataya five years ago, Kolkata could well be heading for a similar disaster in the next 25 years, say marine experts and conservationists. With the water level rising in the Sunderbans and the forest cover shrinking fast, Kolkata is losing the buffer that has been protecting it from natural disasters for centuries. A threat to the Sunderbans ecology
is actually a warning for the city. Unless steps are taken, the city's sub-surface acquifers and the river Hooghly could turn completely saline by 2050. A substantial part of Kolkata could also go under water in the next 40 years, said experts at the School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University. Water level at the Sunderbans has been rising by 3.14 mm each year. Its impact is already being felt in Kolkata in the form of rising salinity. To make people aware of the impending danger, an NGO will launch a campaign "Save Sunderbans to Save Kolkata" in the city on Thursday. Students, conservationists and celebrities will come together for a march from the Shahid Minar to Mohar Kunja. "The idea is to sensitize Kolkatans, especially youngsters, about the need to protect the Sunderbans. Not only are we going to lose tigers and other species in the forest that are already under threat, Kolkata will get exposed to natural disasters," said Purnima Datta, secretary of the Centre for Ecological Movement (CEMO), that has organized the campaign. A smaller, erosion-hit Sunderbans could also turn Kolkata into a garbage dump, warned conservationists. The mangroves serve as a filter for the 1,100 million litre of effluents that flow into the Sunderbans from Kolkata every day. All the metallic pollutants are absorbed by the forest and the biological oxygen demand is neutralized. "We tend to ignore the fact that the Sunderbans is essential for the survival of Kolkata," said Pranabesh Sanyal, former director of Sunderban Tiger Reserve, who is now associated with the School of Environmental Studies. Environemental researcher Subir Ghosh agreed. "The rising water-level hangs over Kolkata like a Damocles' sword. It will affect the city's biodiversity, which is already under threat," he said. The forest has also been checking the upstream flow of saline water into the Hooghly and other rivers. According to the School of Oceanographic Studies, the rising salinity in the Sunderbans is fast infiltrating the Hooghly. "At this rate, the sub-surface acquifers in the city that supply our drinking water will turn totally saline in two to three decades," explained Sanyal. A documentary on the Sunderbans, depicting the ecological disaster that looms large, has been shown in several schools by CEMO. Students from 25 schools around the city will take part in the campaign, distribute leaflets on the need to conserve the Sunderbans and perform a skit.
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