KOLKATA: Cyclone Yaas has not only ravaged the fragile Sunderbans and shattered the life and livelihood of lakhs of individuals, in addition it has washed out a piece of Bengal’s history.
In Fraserganj — called after Sir Andrew Fraser, lieutenant-governor of Bengal from the early 20th century — it’s completely ruined the more-than-a-century older Fort Fraser, a top attraction among vacationers visiting weekend shore destinations Bakkhali along with Fraserganj.
Located around 122 km south west of Kolkata, the fort from the sea was battered differently by cyclones and climbing tidal waves finally bit the dust below the onslaught of Yaas.
“The fort was crumbling for many years.
Many cottages had come around it since this is really a coastal erosion zone, all these also were ruined,” explained Bankim Hazra, the nation Sunderbans development ministry.
“The authorities had discussed a recovery plan in ancient 2020, but came Amphan, Covid, both the surveys and Yaas.
The fort can’t be uninstalled.
We’ll attempt to regain parts of the stays and turn it to a monument in memory of Fraser sahib,” Hazra added.
According to historians, Andrew Fraser, the then Lt governor of Bengal, found the shore in 1904 during one of the many river and sea voyages across Bengal.
He fell in love with the area and constructed a fort and a guest home in Narayanitala, the village which was renamed Fraserganj.
The fort was surrounded by coconut groves and eventually became a talking point among Englishmen at Kolkata.
In the past few decades, though large areas of the fort has been swallowed by the sea, the stays of this construction was a must-stop for vacationers visiting the neighboring shores.
This past calendar year, cyclone Amphan dealt it with a cruel blow.
Last month, cyclone Yaas caused the last fall.
The large tidal waves piled the construction and all that remains of it now are a number of stones jutting over the water that is drinkable.
Based on Anurag Danda, a Sunderbans specialist and senior research fellow with Observer Research Foundation, a separate international think tank located in Delhi, the wiping from this fort is a superb loss to Bengal history.
“Fraser had an extremely significant effect on the whole coastal belt within this section of Sunderbans, such as Fraserganj, Sagar islands and portions of both Namkhana and Mousuni island.
Until Fraser came, all of the settlements have been dropped occasionally and no earnings can be made for the East India Company or the British India authorities.
Eastern Sunderbans was introduced under cultivation via the zamindari system whereas Fraser introduced the’ryotwari’ system,” explained Danda.
Produced in Mumbai at 1848, Fraser had joined the Indian Civil Service in 1871 and served as the Lt Governor of Bengal between 1903 and 1908.
He’d earned the anger of freedom fighters later presiding on the 1905 Partition of Bengal and escaped two bids in his entire life from 1907 and 1908.
However, his support in British India made him a CSI, an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria, along with the knighthood.
He died in 1919 in Edinburgh, Scotland.