WBCS Preliminary Examination 2021 — General Studies · Question 54 of 200

Answer: (D) Dampier and Hodges

The northern limit of the Sundarbans is the Dampier-Hodges Line, surveyed in 1829-30 by William Dampier (Commissioner of the Sundarbans) and Lt. Hodges (surveyor); it still defines the Sundarban region across South and North 24 Parganas. Sir Daniel Hamilton ('Hamilton Saheb') was a Scottish businessman who built cooperative settlements at Gosaba in the early 1900s, and Major William Tolly excavated Tolly's Nullah (Adi Ganga) in 1775-77. The Indian Sundarban region covers about 9,630 sq km in 19 blocks (13 in South and 6 in North 24 Parganas).