New Delhi, Sept 12 (KNN) Sundarbans mangrove forest, one of the largest such forests in the world, which is also the UNESCO World Heritage Site has drawn the attention from the top engineers to conduct studies focusing on the economic growth of the area.

The site is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests, and presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes. There are still much scope for implementation of civil works schemes for creation of physical assets.

Created by the confluence of the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, the Sundarbans is the largest delta in the world spread across the mouth of Bay of Bengal, from India to Bangladesh. On the Indian side are 102 islands, of which 54 are inhabited. The rest comprise vast swathes of mangrove forests that are home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.

A vast area of the Sundarbans is tidally active, where erosion and accretion of land happens to this day. The rivers deposit the sediments, estimated at over a billion tonnes annually, at the sea mouth, which is then carried by high tides into numerous creeks and estuaries in the delta. With every gush of the high tides, the islands get eroded and mudflats are formed. Nearly 2.5 million people live on these islands that constantly change shape.

The major work that can be done in Sundarbans are construction of rural roads, Development & upgradation of existing brick-paved roads, construction of jetties, bridges, Re-excavation of derelict channels and ponds for rain water harvesting, sinking of tube-wells for supply of drinking water, etc.

There are numerous challenges to intervene the Sundarbans with new engineering projects.

A large stretch of the 3,500 km embankments guarding islands are over a century old and collapsing.

The Engineering Wing of the Board mainly implements the civil works schemes and also there are some scopes of other major projects of power supply .

There are still many scopes to conduct studies and surveys to work on the measures to prevent recurrence of embankment failure in future, understand water flow, erosion and accretion patterns in the delta.

Making a new initiative for the Engineering Interventions in the Sunderbans,  Indian National Academy of Engineering And Defence Research (INAE) Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has taken a new initiative of organizing an annual mega event of engineers as “Engineers Conclave” starting from this year in order to provide a forum to discuss important national issues with respect to development in engineering science and technology, addressing policy issues for growth, requirement of faster pace of development, human resources etc.

The two themes for Engineers Conclave-2013 are “Production and Manufacturing in Aerospace” and “Engineering Interventions in the Sunderbans”. 

“India is an emerging country in the area of aerospace systems. It is high time that a focused approach is adopted in this area. The Conclave will bring out technological & infrastructural challenges and show the way ahead,” said the organizers.

Sundarbans are one of the prized possessions of our country. The conclave will focus on problem areas and bring out studies in various engineering interventions required for economic growth of Sundarbans, the notification added.

These two issues will be focused from point of view of finding solutions and specific recommendations shall be formulated for action by the concerned mechanism in the government and in the industry.

This “Engineers Conclave” will be organized jointly by INAE with DAE, DOS, DRDO and CSIR on rotation basis.
Through this Conclave, to be held on September 17-19, INAE and DRDO aims to identify contemporary problems in India and suggest suitable technical solutions for these problems to the policy makers, NGOs and Industry.

The Conclave will be inaugurated by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. (KNN/SD)