Ghoramara Island is an island 92 km south of Kolkata, India in the Sundarban Delta complex of the Bay of Bengal. The island is small, roughly five square kilometers in area, and is quickly disappearing due to erosion and sea level rise.[1]
| Map: | India West Bengal |
| Location: | Bay of Bengal |
| Archipelago: | Sundarbans |
| Country: | India |
| Country Admin Divisions Title: | State |
| Country Admin Divisions: | West Bengal |
| Country Admin Divisions Title 1: | District |
| Country Admin Divisions 1: | South 24 Parganas |
| Population: | 3000 |
Global warming has caused the rivers that pour down from the Himalayas and empty into the Bay of Bengal to swell and shift in recent decades, placing these islands, known as the Sundarbans, in danger. Four islands are completely underwater, and another 10 in the area are at risk.
A 2007 study by Jadavpur University concluded that roughly 31sqmi of the Sundarbans had disappeared during the preceding 30 years, and that Ghoramara had shrunk to less than 5sqmi, about half its size in 1969: this loss of land had caused the displacement of more than 600 families.[2]
Ghoramara island once had a population of 40,000.[3] The 2001 Government of India census showed a population of 5,000 on Ghoramara; this population is believed to have shrunk as families are displaced by the island's sinking and many families are migrating in search of better livelihood.[4] As of 2016 the island has 3,000 residents.