Sundarbans: Where the Wild Roams

 

Sundarbans: Where the Wild Roams

These sources provide a detailed account of the captivating beauty of the Sundarbans, its geographical setting, and the arduous lives of the local inhabitants. Amidst the constant threat posed by the Royal Bengal Tiger and challenging conditions, residents rely primarily on hazardous activities—such as fishing, crab catching, and honey gathering—for their livelihoods. The videos showcase the experiences of local guides and fishermen who live in harmony with nature as they journey from the Sundarbans to the Bay of Bengal. Furthermore, the report highlights the harrowing stories of "Tiger Widows"—women whose husbands were killed in tiger attacks but who received no government compensation due to a lack of awareness and administrative apathy. Ultimately, this journey not only portrays the region's natural splendor but also effectively brings to light the economic destitution, struggles, and lack of access to government schemes faced by the local people.

According to the sources, villagers in the Sundarbans face the following major threats and challenges while earning their livelihoods (catching fish and crabs, extracting honey from the forest, and felling timber):

• Royal Bengal Tiger Attacks: The greatest fear while working near forests and rivers is the Royal Bengal Tiger. Tigers often launch sudden attacks and drag people away while they are cutting wood or foraging, resulting in numerous fatalities. Although the government has installed safety nets along the forest fringes, these nets are broken in many places, allowing tigers to stray into human settlements.

• Threat from Crocodiles: There is a constant risk of crocodile attacks when venturing into the waters of rivers and creeks to catch fish and crabs.

• Risks of honey collection: To extract honey, villagers must venture deep—often a kilometer or more—into dense forests across marshy terrain. Driving away bees by lighting fires and creating smoke, and then harvesting honey from the hives, is an extremely dangerous process.

• Challenging and marshy terrain: The Sundarbans region is extremely marshy, and water levels fluctuate rapidly due to tides. Walking through mud, reaching into holes to catch crabs, and casting nets in deep water are physically grueling and hazardous activities.

• Limited employment and lack of compensation: Due to a lack of alternative employment options in the area, people are compelled to risk their lives by venturing into the forest. Furthermore, families who lose members to tiger attacks ('Tiger Widows') often fail to receive government compensation or assistance due to a lack of awareness and administrative complexities.

According to sources, the following measures and methods are adopted in the Sundarbans to ensure safety and protection against Royal Bengal Tiger attacks:

• Safety Nets: The government has installed nylon safety nets along the forest fringes to prevent tigers from approaching human settlements, rivers, and boats. Tigers are usually deterred by the sight of these nets and retreat. (However, in many places, damaged nets allow tigers to stray into human-inhabited areas.)

• Worship of Bon Bibi: People of the Sundarbans—including fishermen, honey collectors, and woodcutters—worship Bon Bibi before entering the forest. According to local belief, Bon Bibi protects them from attacks by tigers (and Dakshin Ray).

• Group movement and carrying weapons: Instead of venturing into the forest alone, people travel in groups of five or six and carry tools like axes for self-defense.

 • Not Provoking Tigers: Local residents coexist harmoniously with nature and wildlife. They believe that if a tiger is spotted—whether swimming or standing nearby—it generally will not attack unless provoked.

• Retreating Upon Hearing a Roar or Sensing Danger: If people hear a tiger’s roar or sense its presence in the forest, they avoid taking risks; they immediately return to their boats and do not venture further into that area.

According to sources, the processes of catching crabs and harvesting honey in the forests and rivers of the Sundarbans involve the following traditional methods:

1. Crab Catching Method:

• Spotting Signs: Villagers identify the presence of crabs in the mud by observing their tracks and movement marks (dada ka spot) on the marshy soil, helping them locate the specific burrow or hole where a crab is hiding.

• Manual Extraction:  Upon spotting these signs, villagers reach directly into the muddy holes and burrows with their hands to catch and extract the crabs.

• Catching with Nets: When nets are cast in rivers and creeks to catch fish, crabs—both small and large—often get trapped alongside the fish.

2. Honey Harvesting Method:

• Venturing into Dense Forest: To search for honey, villagers disembark from their boats and trek up to a kilometer or more into the dense forest, walking across the marshy terrain.

• Locating Trees and Hives: They search for honeycombs on the high branches of large mangrove trees, particularly in areas where the ground is firm.

• Driving Away Bees with Smoke: Once a hive is located, a fire is lit using bushes and leaves to create thick smoke; the bees, frightened by the smoke, abandon the hive and fly away. 

• Honey collection: Once the bees have moved away, villagers cut the hive using axes and other tools to extract the honey.

In both these livelihoods, villagers face the constant risk posed by Royal Bengal tigers and the marshy terrain.