SUNDARBANS: Sajnekhali BIRD Sanctuary: August 1978

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Praktica LTL, Image 200, Agfa 200 ASA, Scanned.
Photographed from the only Tree-Top Machan located at Sajnekhali in 1978 where the present Tourist Lodge is now located. It was a famous breeding ground for water-birds during the monsoon. A Govt. tourist launch used to carry us from Canning and would return late evening on the same day.
All the large trees were destroyed in a devastating cyclone in 1980's and the Bird Sanctuary was erased for ever.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Wow a bird sanctuary in Sunderbans. Its amazing to see an image from those days. You are really lucky, you could see so much natural beauty, before it got destroyed for ever. Thanks for sharing.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

I don't think many people are even aware of this site sir. sad to know it got wiped out. nature compensates for losses in one place with bounties in others. In contrast human efforts to compensate even if any are ridiculously short sighted and not sustainable.
Rgds
Roopak

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Now we don't have those tall trees which used to serve as the heronry. This image and story tells us how important is the habitat. When the habitat is destroyed due to human actions or by acts of God, the species often vanish. I wonder if they found refuge in some of the uninhabitated islands in the core zone or completely moved away elsewhere.

Roopak's point about human efforts being shortsighted is because of the time frame of our plans. Our corporate life teaches us to think only from one Quarter to the next quarter. Atleast the 5 year plans of Government of India, a legacy of Pandit Nehru's times, used to harp on our subconscious mind that there can be a time frame of more than 3 years. Some of the previous conclusions of elephants destroying forests in africa have been found erroneous primarily because when seen over several decades and centuries one finds that changes to landscapes happen over a long time frame with grasslands giving way to forests and vice-versa. Unfortunately except for a few scientists who have dedicated their life to one landscape and one species, rest all move away after barely scraping the surface.

In the pre-digital age atleast people used to work for a PhD before claiming themselves to be expert. With the advent of digital age, one safari trip is enough to proclaim accession to the "Expert" club.

[Abhirup Dutta Gupta]

Nice capture.