Rising sea salinates India's Ganges: expert - Reuters

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Rising sea salinates India's Ganges: expert
Mon Feb 2, 2009 5:18am EST

By Sujoy Dhar

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Rising sea levels
are causing salt water to flow into India's biggest
river, threatening its ecosystem and turning vast
farmlands barren in the country's east, a climate
change expert warned Monday.

A study by an east Indian university in the city
of Kolkata revealed surprising growth of mangroves
on the Ganges river, said Pranabes Sanyal, the
eastern India representative of the National Coastal
Zone Management Authority (NCZMA).

"This phenomenon is called extension of salt wedge
and it will salinate the groundwater of Kolkata and
turn agricultural lands barren in adjoining rural
belts," said Sanyal, an expert in global warming.

Sea levels in some parts of the Bay of Bengal were
rising at 3.14 mm annually against a global average
of 2 mm, threatening the low-lying areas of eastern
India.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE5111RC20090202