By IRNA,
New Delhi : About 90 per cent of the New Moore Island that surfaced in the Bay of Bengal in the aftermath of Bhola cyclone in 1970 have submerged as per satellite images collected by the Jadavpur University.
“Satellite images have confirmed that about 90 per cent of the Island, about three km long and 3.5 km wide, have submerged,” sources in the School of Oceanography Studies of the University said in Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state, Thursday.
Local fishermen had also confirmed the disappearance of a major part of the Island, they said.
A study team will shortly visit the remaining part of the Island to physically assess the situation, PTI reported.
A major portion of the Island, that emerged on the confluence of the rivers Ichhamati and Rai Mangal, has disappeared because of rising sea level, coastal erosion, spate of cyclones and global warming, they said.
South Talpatti Island as it was known in Bangladesh or New Moore Island or Purbasha as it was known in India was a small uninhabited offshore island that emerged in the Bay of Bengal in the aftermath of the Bhola cyclone in 1970 and disappeared at some later point.
The island was situated only two kilometers from the mouth of the Hariabhanga River.
The emergence of the island was first discovered by an American satellite in 1974 that showed the island to have an area of 2,500 sq meters (27,000 sq ft).
Later, various remote sensing surveys showed that the island had expanded gradually to an area of about 10,000 sq meters (110,000 sq ft) at low tide, including a number of ordinarily submerged shoals.
The highest elevation of the island had never exceeded two meters above sea level.
The island was located in the coastal, shallow Bay of Bengal immediately south of the international border river, the Hariabhanga, flowing between Satkhira district of Bangladesh and South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India.
The island was claimed by both Bangladesh and India, although neither country established any permanent settlement there because of the island’s geological instability based on silt deposits in a delta which floods every year.
India had reportedly hoisted the Indian flag on the island in 1981 and established a temporary base of Border Security Forces (BSF), regularly visiting with naval gunships.
There had never been any permanent settlement or stations located on the island.