'Sunderbans under severe stress with rise in sea levels'

NEW DELHI: Drawing attention towards the need to protect India's coastal areas due to rising mean sea levels globally, Jairam Ramesh, Congress MP from Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha said that in some parts of the country, particularly West Bengal, the increase is well above the global average and Sunderbans Delta is under severe stress.
"India has 7,500 km long coastline, extending over nine states. Protecting our coastal areas is of paramount importance, both from livelihood and ecological security point of view. Sea levels are rising globally," Ramesh said during Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha on Friday.
"As far as Sunderbans is concerned, it is suffering not only because of high rate of sea level rise, but also because of the reduced downstream transport of sediment which has been attributed to construction of Farakka Barrage. This is having an adverse impact on Bihar as well," he added.
Ramesh said that he would like to know from the minister of Jal Shakti as to what is his position on the issue of de-silting of Farakka Barrage.
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References

1. ^{^} Jairam Ramesh (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} Rajya Sabha (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} West Bengal (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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