Foreword

The Sundarbans Mangrove Forests, a unique habitat comprising both terrestrial and aquatic environment in the lower West Bengal, harbours a diverse variety of flora and fauna including colourful birds, crocodiles and giant Royal Bengal Tigers.
The Indian part of Sundarbans in West Bengal holds not less than fifty percent of the total mangrove reserves in India covering nearly 4263 sq km area with dense vegetation of about 1692 sq km and thus deserves a prominent place in the World map.
Although a number of studies on the status of water quality of Sundarbans have been undertaken in the past, very little is known with regard to the behaviour of various air contaminants in this fragile ecosystem. Therefore, an understanding of the status of air quality in the Sundarbans is nonetheless important from the view point of total ecosystem management, besides keeping in view of transboundary movement of air pollutants.