BharatSangraha

Sundarbans · Middle & Lower Gangetic Plain

Terrain and eco-zones

Tropical monsoon, hot and continuously humid, with 1,600–2,000 mm of rain concentrated between June and September. The region sits directly in the track of Bay of Bengal cyclones; the dangerous windows are April to May and, more severely, October to November, when a storm surge riding a high tide can overtop embankments several kilometres inland.

Landforms

Tidal mangrove forest on silt, the largest continuous stand of its kind in the worldCreeks and khals, tidal in both directions, forming a branching network rather than a drainage patternMudflats exposed at low water, with pneumatophores standing through themPolders — embanked islands, several with land inside the wall lower than the water outside itChars and sandbars at the seaward edge, accreting on one side while eroding on the other

Rivers and waters

Hooghly and its Muriganga mouth, the western limitMatla, Bidyadhari and Thakuran — tidal channels rather than rivers, with little freshwater inputRaimangal and Kalindi at the eastern edgeGosaba, Datta and Herobhanga creeks through the reservePassur, Sibsa and Baleshwar on the eastern side of the forest

Through the year

SeasonMonthsTypicalWhat it is like
WinterNovember–February12–28 °CDry, mild, the best time for boat travel and wildlife, and the season for date-palm sap and nolen gur. The Bonbibi puja falls in Magh, at the end of it.
Pre-monsoon and honey seasonMarch–May24–37 °CHot and still. The mangrove flowering peaks and the licensed honey-collection season runs within this window, as does the highest incidence of tiger encounters, because more people are inside the forest.
MonsoonJune–September26–33 °CHeavy rain, low salinity, fish and prawn spawning, and the period when embankments are weakest and most often breached from the inside by saturation rather than from the outside by surge.
Post-monsoon cyclone seasonOctober–November22–32 °CClear between systems and dangerous when one forms. Several of the region's most damaging storms have arrived in this window.

Best time to visitNovember to February — cooler, drier, better visibility from the watchtowers, and the season when the boats run reliably. The forest is closed to visitors for a period each monsoon, and permits are required for the reserve at any time of year.

The climate, landforms, rivers and seasons of Sundarbans, and the best time of year to visit. (4)