Soil erosion is indeed a significant issue along the banks of the Bhagirathi-Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. Soil erosion in this region is influenced by both climate change and land use. The subtropical monsoon environment exacerbates soil erosion and related land degradation [1]. The Bhagirathi-Hooghly river is highly vulnerable to bank erosion [2]. This erosion has led to significant land loss, affecting fertile agricultural land and settlement areas [2]. The frequent nature of erosion is induced by hydraulic control due to the construction of the Farakka Barrage in 1975 and the Indo-Bangladesh water sharing treaty of 1977 and 1996 [3]. 

Addressing this issue requires a comprehensive approach that considers these factors and implements effective soil conservation and river management strategies. 

This publisher is a signatory and a proud member of SDG Publishers Compact, an initiative by the United Nations (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/).

This publisher, as part of its social responsibility program and to support SDG Publishers Compact, an initiative by the United Nations, partially helped to arrange mangrove plantation program along the banks of the Bhagirathi-Hooghly River at Uttarpara, West Bengal, India. Approximately, 10,000 mangrove seedlings were planted on the river bank. It is expected that approximately 10-20% seedlings will survive and in due course of time they will help to stop soil erosion. The additional benefit of this approach is that it is a green initiative and environment friendly compared to use to concrete slabs, etc to stop soil erosion on river bank.

References:

1. Subodh Chandra Pal, Rabin Chakrabortty, Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam, Paramita Roy, Indrajit Chowdhuri, Asish Saha, Aznarul Islam, Romulus Costache & Edris Alam (2023) Land use and climate change-induced soil erosion mapping in a sub-tropical environment, Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk, 14:1, DOI: 10.1080/19475705.2023.2270129
2. Das, M., Saha, S. (2022). Spatiotemporal Detection and Delineation of Bhagirathi-Hooghly River Bank Erosion Using GIS Analytics, West Bengal, India. In: Shit, P.K., Pourghasemi, H.R., Bhunia, G.S., Das, P., Narsimha, A. (eds) Geospatial Technology for Environmental Hazards. Advances in Geographic Information Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75197-5_23
3. Islam, A., Guchhait, S.K. Search for social justice for the victims of erosion hazard along the banks of river Bhagirathi by hydraulic control: a case study of West Bengal, India. Environ Dev Sustain 19, 433–459 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-015-9739-6