In a corner of Bengal, people are living on the edge of a rising sea - Photos by Anup Bhattacharya
For people living on
the islands in the Ganga estuary, climate change is a demon they battle every
day. It has already transformed their lives and livelihood. Nowhere is this
clearer than in Sagar administrative block in West Bengal on the edge of the
Bay of Bengal. This area is part of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest
mangrove ecosystem, and one of the areas most vulnerable to climate change in
India.
The Sagar block, which
has a population of around 200,000, has to not only grapple with a rising sea
level at a rate that is nearly 250% higher than global rate (8 mm per year
compared with 3.23 mm per year, according to the school of oceanographic
studies of Jadavpur University in Kolkata), but also stands exposed to increasing
high intensity cyclones and storms. The rising sea has already submerged
Lohachara island in Sagar block, eaten nearly three-fourths of Ghoramara island
and severely affected the bigger Sagar island.
The story of Ghoramara
shows that how climate change is changing the way people live – how it divides
families, breaks social taboos and hastens forced migration. The largely poor
people in the island (45% live below the poverty line) are under enormous
socioeconomic stress that has upturned their lives. See photos:
http://scroll.in/article/816687/photos-in-a-corner-of-bengal-people-are-living-on-the-edge-of-a-rising-sea
