Wetland Wealth of Haora and Hugli Districts, West Bengal

Etymologically, Haora and Hugli districts of West Bengal owe their names from waterbodies, i.e., Haora from haor, meaning wetland in Bengali and Hugli from the river Hooghly. These two districts, being located in the mature deltaic region of Ganga delta plain, are rich in waterways and wetland resources. Important rivers of these two adjacent districts are Hooghly, Damodar, Rupnarayan, Saraswati, Ghia, Kausiki, etc. Major wetlands of these districts include Dunkuni marsh, Rajapur jala, Amta jala, Khanan jala, Khanakul jala, Kumirmora beel, Sultanpur beel, etc. In all, Haora district has non-impounded waters like rivers, canals and beel/ baors of 3,145.46 ha and impounded water of 5,554.66 ha, while Hugli district has 11,958.44 ha and 16,268.01 ha of non-impounded and impounded waters respectively. Field observations have revealed that these two districts enjoy appreciable importance with respect to production of various items of freshwater fisheries in West Bengal which include freshwater fishes, prawns, shrimps, crabs, snails and mussels. Major carps and exotic carps are cultivated in ponds and jheels, while weed fishes, crustaceans and mollusks are naturally grown in various types of wetlands including paddy fields.

These two districts also enjoy production of commercially important aquatic and amphibious plant species, such as, hogla, helenchasak, kalmisak, susnisak, thankunisak, padma, paniphal, patighas, madurkathi, shaluk, shola, kulekhara, kushghas, jundarighas, etc. Some of these plant species are cultivated in marshy areas and roadside or railway jheels to earn a living from their production and sale in West Bengal and adjoining states. These cultivated plant species are mainly grown in Haora district, viz., hogla (Typha) in and around Kulgachia-Birshibpur areas, padma (Nelumbo) in Kulgachia, Kantapukur and Deulti areas, patighas in Balarampur-Birshibpur areas, madurkathi in Garhbhabanipur-Amata areas, while paniphal (Trapa) chas and madurkathi (Cyperus) chas are well known in railway jheels of Kamarkundu and Munsirhat areas respectively of Hugli district. Since there is rampant reclamation and horizontal shrinkage of marshes, swamps, beels and jheels it is high time to protect these wetlands and save the livelihood of local farmers, fisherfolk and rural populace depending on these aquaresources in this part of West Bengal.