The Border Security Force is considering whether to build a fence in the Sundarbans. The proposal matters because the Sundarbans is both a strategic border zone and one of India’s most fragile coastal ecosystems.
The terrain is swampy, tidal and shaped by shifting water channels and unstable soil. Conventional fencing is therefore difficult to construct and maintain, and it can also damage mangrove habitats and obstruct wildlife movement.
The current debate is not about border security alone. It is about whether a security intervention in the Sundarbans can be designed without causing disproportionate ecological harm.
Why the Sundarbans is a special case
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