Kolkata: Noted environmental experts have expressed serious concern over the rise in mean sea level at the Sundarbans, which was causing a number of islands to go under water in the region.

At a seminar conducted jointly by USIS and Kolkata Port Trust to commemorate World Environment Day last night (Jun 3, 2004), Sugata Hazra, director of School of Oceanography at Jadavpur University said that computer simulation studies had shown that the sea at the Sundarbans was rising at a rate of 3.14 cm per year, more than the global average.

He said that at this rate, a number of islands in the area in the Southern region of the Sunderbans were facing erosion. The areas included Patharpratima, Jambu Dweep, Sagar Islands and Ghoramara.

Hazra said that by the year 2010, ten per cent of the land in Sagar Islands will be lost.

The other main factor which was also causing land erosion was hurricanes resulting in rise in water columns in the region.