Sunderbans from MCCS Manisha

Manisha dedicates her Sunderbans trip to her school >>
This year,in the early November I, a student of class 12  of M.C.C.S went for an educational tour to the exotic SUNDERBANS (3rd November-7th November) which saw in it a participation of our Secretary Mam , teachers, staff members and about 48 students.

On the very first day we got an opportunity to visit the Sajnekhali Mangrove Interpretation Centre well known for its mangroves. The next day we went to Sudhanyakhali Tiger Reserve and the Dobanki camp which is mainly the habitat for the deer in Sunderbans.

The third day we visited the Bali village which gave us a platform to interact with the villagers. This enabled us to know about their lifestyle, source of living and the problems they undergo very often. On the whole it was a great experience for all of us.It was with a heavy heart that we began our journey home next morning bidding farewell to the vast streches of rivers, seas and beautiful trees.

However, making a solemn promise to return one day for a longer stay in the lap of nature.

Sunderbans from MCCS Diksha

The journey to SUNDERBAN was really thrilling and enjoyable.The trip was organised by our school in collaboration with the organisation ie the Help Tourism Pvt. Ltd. We the students of MCCS was accompanied by our honourable secretary mam,teachers an staff members. Our journey had started off from New Jalpaiguri Station on 3rd of November.As it was my first time experience there was an unknown that glowed in the dark corners of my heart.But percentage of amusement was much more than the fear , so the fear got suppressed by it.On the very first day we got an oppurtunity to visit the SAJNEKHALI MAGROVE INTERPRETATION CENTER well known for its mangrove.The next day we went to SUDHANYAKHALI TIGER RESERVE and the Dobanki Camp which is mainly the habitat of the deers of Sunderbans.The third day we visited the Bali Village that gave us a platform to interactwith the villagers.This enabled us to know about their lifestyle, source of living and the problems they undergo very often. On the whole it was a great experience for all of us.

Sunderbans from MCCS Nadim

EXCURSION TO SUNDERBANS

INTRODUCTION TO SUNDERBANS

Sunderban is unique largest mangrove ecosystem in the world and has the honour being a world heritage site &biosphere reserve among all.

Our experience in sundarban greatly influenced our knowledge and attached us to its habitat, we had enjoyed the different variation of scenic beauty of nature in sundarban which had been greatly influenced to the environment .It starts with the streamer ride between the channels of ganges river which lies in extreme south of west Bengal.It has been said that “The Sunderban” Is one Wonders of the world’s Part by the delegates of the world .

Its our experience that for Three days in the beauty of sundarban had a great luxury of cuisines of meal offered by its culture, we enjoyed a lot there. It is our honour of being a part of Excursion to be indulged in the activities of school curriculum as its is a part of education system which creates the students mind to develop cognitively in the different fields of studies.

REPORT ON EDUCATIONAL TOUR TO SUNDARBANS

Siliguri,4^th Dec. 2011.We are the students of Modella Caretaker Centre  and School was to set out for an Education Tour to Sunderbans through Help Tourism, We were  48 in number, with 7 teachers. We started our journey from New Jalpaiguri Station on 3^rd November,2011and we reached Sealdah station the next morning by 6:10a.m. We took a small halt for some time and then boarded our bus which was already waiting for us and started an exhaustive journey of around 4 hrs, on our way we were offered our breakfast also. The bus finally stopped at a place called Gadkhali and then we boarded a launch and reached a habitat island called Bali island where was our resort already booked by Help Tourism.

Then we unpacked our luggage and had a refresh and finally had our lunch and then we set out for Sajnekhali for taking permissions to visit the place and visited a museum offering us amazing knowledge about the place “SUNDERBANS” .

The next day (i.e. 5th November) after having a small yoga class and our lunch, we set out early in the morning to visit all the different places of Sunderban.

We visited a deer reserve, where we not only found deer but various species of plants, of Mangrove trees were the most abundant and of which Sunderban was famous along with the Royal Bengal Tigers.

We saw different animals like crocodiles, deer, monkeys, forest fowls (van murgi),and birds of different species. At night we saw a special play performed by the local people based on The Bannobibi ( the  goddesses of the forest who is believed to protect them from various monsters(man-eater tigers ,crocodiles, etc.). The villagers performed it with great a true soul which was a very pleasurable moment for us.

On 6^th Nov. We visited the bali village, had conversation with the locals. We came to know their way of living, the problem faced by them. Still they don’t have the electricity supply so they were offered Solar cells at very low prices which in market will be unaffordable to buy; they are also dependent on electric generators for electricity.

For their livelihood, they are dependent on agriculture (on small areas around their houses), fishing, apiculture, tourism. We helped them financially also and offered them few commodities.

Our resort was also very nice and used all types of eco-friendly good & commodities wherever possible.

Finally after returning from there we set out for Sealdah and boarded the train back to New Jalpaiguri.

 BY : MD. NADIM SAHBAZ

CLASS – XII (SCIENCE)

SUNDARBAN EXCURSION(BATCH  2011-12)

Sunderbans from MCCS Aman

EXCURSION TO THE  SUNDERBANS

 SHORT INTRODUCTION ON SUNDERBANS

  Sunderbans is situated on the lower end of the Gangetic West Bengal, 22.00° N – 89.00° E, at an altitude 0-10 m above sea level and just south of Kolkata. Sunderban covers an area of 4262 sq. kms., where 70 percent is under saline water. Sunderbans is a vast tract of forest and saltwater swamp forming the lower part of the Ganges Delta, extending about 160 miles (260 km) along the Bay of Bengal from the Hooghly River Estuary (India) to the Meghna River Estuary in Bangladesh. Sunderbans spreads over 54 islands and two countries (West Bengal and Bangladesh) and is part of the world's largest delta region.
 The Sunderbans are a part of the world's largest delta formed by the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. The whole tract reaches inland for 60-80 miles (100-130 km). A network of estuaries, tidal rivers, and creeks intersected by numerous channels, it encloses flat, marshy islands covered with dense forests.

Flora and fauna

True mangrove species-26

True mangrove associates-29

Back mangrove species-29

Families- 40

Genera-60

Species- 84

Royal Bengal tigers: 271 (9december 2001 census)

Others mammal; wild bears, spotted deer, porcupines, otters, monkeys etc.

Reptiles: crocodiles, marines, turtles, snakes, lizards, monitors.

Birds; around 170 species

Fishes; estimated 58 specis

Invertebrates including crabs, molluscs of different kinds.

Inhabited

At present 108 islands 54 are inhabited, the population is about 4.1 millions. A unique religious harmony is observed here among Hindu and Muslims.

Tourism

West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation has set up tourist lodges in Sajnekhali. In Pakhirala there are some private lodges.the most exepensive and luxurious accommodation in The Sunderbans is at the Sunderbans tiger camp at Dayapur. 

Our excursion to The Sunderbans

We are the students of Modella Caretaker Centre  and School, Fulbari. We were the students 48 in number, with 7 teachers. We started our journey from New Jalpaiguri on 3^rd November, 2011.

 Reached sealdah the next day morning by 06:10. We took a small halt for sumtime and then boarded a bus and started a journey for a place called Gadkhali, it took us almost 3 and half hours to reach there, and then we boarded a launch and reached an inhabited island called Bali island. There we resided in a resort, Sunderbans Jungle Camp. The very day we went to the Sajnekhali for taking different permissions and took a look over the island.

The next day that is 5^th November we set out early in the morning to visit all the different places of the Sunderbans. we a deer reserve, then all tge different species of plants, most of them were mangroves, we saw the meeting of the river and sea, saw different animals like crocodiles, deer, monkeys, fowls, and birds of different species. At night we saw a special play performed by the local people based on The Banobibi ( the  goddesses of the forest who believed to have protect them). The villagers performed them with great true souls which was very pleasure watching it.

On 6^th we visited the Bali village, talked to different people. Asked them of the problem they face. Still they have not received the    electric supply, they depend on the solar energy or the electric generators, and they are dependent on agriculture, fishing, and honey collection for their livelihood. We helped them by giving them some torches, some eatable materials etc. Finally after returning from there we sat out for Sealdah and boarded the train back to New Jalpaiguri.

Conclusion

The visit to The Sunderban was an evergreen journey; it would remain evergreen in my memory. But felt helpless for the villagers, many of them were attacked by the tigers, they did not receive a proper help from the government, they problems during the monsoon season, they lived a poor life, let us all come together and appeal for the help to them to the government. Inspite of this they spent a happy and enjoyable life here. The unity among the local people is very strong.

The place was just fantastic, would surely visit again if i ever get a chance again.

                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                Aman Bindal

                                                                                                                                                Class-12

                                                               Modella caretaker centre and school, Fulbari, siliguri. West Bengal.

 

Sunderbans from MCCS Jyoti

Sunderbans from MCCS Sulagna

World Heritage Site Exchange Program

For the past 02 decades, Help Tourism has been working on several heritage sites in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. 02 World Heritage Sites have been in core focus, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway area and the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, because of being under 01 state administration, West Bengal, but extreme in their landscape, alpine in the East Himalaya and the estuarine in the Bay of Bengal sea. This has made the livelihood of the people also extreme in their own way, but most people here live below the poverty line and dependent on the local natural resources. At both places Help Tourism work to create a sense of ownership and pride about their World Heritage Site among the local people.

 

There is a unique program which has been implemented by Help Tourism and the network organizations. The ‘Exchange Program’, which has been carried out for 05 years now between the people of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway area and Sunderbans Tiger Reserve area has shown better understanding for their own sites. The program was started with the Nepali Girls School, one of the oldest schools in Darjeeling run by missionaries for girls from the remote tea garden and forest villages of Darjeeling Hills to have their educational tour to the Sunderbans and interact with the children there, this was followed by the visit of school teachers of various schools from the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve area. Also, a team from the Bali Wildlife and Nature Conservation Society and the Sunderbans Jungle Camp visited the DHR area. The other was the visit of the administrative teachers of Modella Caretaker Centre & School from the DHR area of Siliguri, who also run a DHR Heritage club in school. From their visit, they decided to send their senior students of the school for educational tour to Sunderbans.  

MCC School visits Sunderbans WHS for environment study and community understanding

 

48 students, Class 12 boys and girls, their last few months left in school. After this they will be preparing for a more career based life at graduation level. The school decided on an innovative educational tour, where every student in this tour is connected to the most isolated islands of West Bengal. The 102 islands of Indian Sunderbans, 54 home for humans and 48 territories for the tigers. The legendary islands are now part of the Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, where both man and tigers live every single day.

This is not an easy task. 47 of the 48 students have no clue of the great network of the Indian Postal Service, though there would be about 10 odd head post office, post offices and sub-post offices around the area they stay in Siliguri or Jalpaiguri. This is probably because of the reason that there is no way that the post offices have any relevance to their day to day life. They have been given the responsibility to connect one child or youth each from the Bali island of Sunderbans, who has no clue of emails or courier, but about 30,000 islanders sharing a post office, the only communication for them with the outside world. This is probably the reason why the celebrity film director from Bengal, Aparna Sen based her film ‘Japanese Wife’ on this island, a story based on pen friends. The whole crew probably spent about 80 days at the Sunderbans Jungle Camp at Bali.

The short excursion of 04 nights ex-Siliguri was focussed on connecting the students to the natural wonders of Sunderbans in the first part and to the people in the second part. The students were a mixture from different subjects, which included Geography, Commerce and Bio-Science. This article will be followed by posts from students of Modella Caretaker Centre and School (MCCS), Siliguri, Class 12 students who had gone on this tour.

So keep following this blog to know more about Sunderbans.