Inland Fisheries

5.2.2 The Hooghly-Matlah estuary

The Hooghly-Matlah estuary, which is located within the State of West Bengal, occupies the marshy deltaic area called the Sunderbans. Sunderbans at the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta are regarded as the largest single mangrove jungle of the world transcending the political boundaries of India and Bangladesh and occupying a total of 10,000 km². The portion falling in India occupies over 4,170 km² (23,400 ha). The total approximate area of Sunderbans estuarine waters is 2,340 km². The main Hooghly estuary is a positive estuary. It has an approximately triangular wide mouth and, probably, due to the strong scouring action of the stream as well as tidal currents, a greater overall circulation is maintained. The tidal influence can be realised up to a distance of 290 km from the sea.