Disputed Bay of Bengal island 'vanishes' say scientists
A tiny island claimed for years by
India and Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal has disappeared beneath the
rising seas, scientists in India say.
The uninhabited
territory south of the Hariabhanga river was known as New Moore Island
to the Indians and South Talpatti Island to the Bangladeshis.
Recent satellites images show the whole island under water, says the School of Oceanographic Studies in Calcutta.
Its scientists say other nearby islands could also vanish as sea levels rise.
Beneath the waves
The
BBC's Chris Morris in Delhi says there has never been a permanent
settlement on the now-vanished island, which even in its heyday was
never more than two metres (about six feet) above sea level.
 Loss of land is an annual reality for many Bangladeshis
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In the past, however, the territorial dispute led to visits by
Indian naval vessels and the temporary deployment of a contingent from
the country's Border Security Force.
"What these two countries
could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global
warming," said Professor Sugata Hazra of the School of Oceanographic
Studies at Jadavpur University in Calcutta.
Anyone wishing to visit now, he observed, would have to think of travelling by submarine.
Professor
Hazra said his studies revealed that sea levels in this part of the Bay
of Bengal have risen much faster over the past decade than they had
done in the previous 15 years.
And he predicts that in the
coming decade other islands in the Sundarbans delta region will follow
New Moore, or South Talpatti, beneath the waves.
"We will have
ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sunderbans as more
island areas come under water," Prof Hazra said.
Source:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8584665.stm
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