The Forest

A history of the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bakarganj, on the western edge of the Meghna estuary. By 1876 much of this forest had disappeared. The deforestation of the Sundarbans was driven by an imperial idea of “improvement” and the government’s ever-increasing hunger for land revenue. In the course of the nineteenth century the government became aware of the Sundarbans’ role in reducing cyclone damage, but did nothing to preserve the remaining forest in Bakarganj. Many of those who drowned in the storm-wave were living on land that had until recently been forested.