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Climate Emergency- Escaping the Hungry Tide

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Climate Emergency- Escaping the Hungry Tide Climate emergency- Escaping the hungry tide Reshma: “This is our 7th house, the past 6 houses were destroyed by the floods. We adjust and enjoy under any circumstances. Whenever there is a thunderstorm here, we play ludo inside. My grandpa was a fisherman in Ghoramara. I really enjoy the beach there. I like playing in the river water, that’s why I used to go there. But, we cannot live there. It is very dangerous.” Vaishali: That was Reshma Khatun. She lives with her family in Manasadwip village in Sagar Island. This agrarian family had shifted and settled there from Ghoramara Island 30 years ago. Every time a cyclone comes or rain pummels ferociously, Reshma and her family move away. Like many families, they don't have proper land documents. Sagar Island has a high population density of over 2 Lakh people. It is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal, Hooghly river and Muriganga river. This delta is highly sensitive to erosion, flooding and salinisation. Cyclone, embankment failures, submergence and storms are very common in these islands, especially as climate change aggravates the situation. Whenever the Island’s edges erode or when people want to find better land and work, they shift further inside the Island. The local authorities say that the famous Kapil Muni temple has been rebuilt 4 times. I’m Vaishali, a reporter for Suno India. Last month I visited Sagar Island as part of Internews’ media workshop on climate change, climate justice and resilience. Some parts of this episode will be in Bengali, and you can find the episode transcript on our website. People live in small houses which are built on clayey soils along the edge of Sagar island. The seawater constantly keeps coming into the land, and it often takes away homes and land along with it. Many people living here are so poor that they don't have the luxury to relocate. While agriculture is their primary occupation, they also rely on fishing and prawn baby collection. The residents say that the mangroves which had protected the land from the sea’s force have been destroyed. This leaves them vulnerable. Also, when the other locally grown wild plants are taken down for agricultural purposes, it makes the land vulnerable to erosion. In other words, the land simply cannot hold itself together anymore here, and it often faces the wrath of frequent cyclones. Tuhin: Sagar Island is basically sandy. Clay is very less there. If there is the clay, the mangrove should have some capacity to protect the riverbanks or the beach. There are some other varieties of plants. But mostly, the parts of Sagar island coast near the sea areas are barren. There is no thick land cover. That doesn't provide protection. The plants there also don't protect the island margin. The margin is exposed to all kinds of wave actions or cyclonic conditions and storm surges. Vaishali: Professor Tuhin Ghosh, from the School of oceanographic studies, Jadavpur University has been researching about the Sundarbans since 1993-94. He joins us to share his observations on Sagar Island. The lanes in the Sumati Nagar were slippery and clayey and were barely walkable. It is because of the seawater that had come in. They have made sand dunes as land dividers, and the land in between is filled with water. Many live in abject poverty with the sea playing the role of friend and foe at the same time in their lives. Cyclone Aila had impacted Sagar Island immensely in 2009. Many people living here claim that the government hasn't compensated them because the govt hasn't classified the area under zones affected by Cyclone Aila. For Benubala Shaw, who lives in a house that is on the edge of Sumati Nagar, their homes being flooded is no longer one that evokes strong emotions. Benubala Shaw: “When Aila came, we all moved to Neel bazar. Our entire house was filled with water. We have a local doctor here. When the salty water comes in, we all go there to get some medicine. We are used to it now.” Vaishali: A doctor in the local hospital who didn’t want to be named said that people living in the salty and wet conditions are more prone to fever, blood pressure, skin diseases and respiratory diseases. Doctor: “We are getting many patients with fever. They have a high-grade temperature which isn’t responding to regular treatment. The change in fever trend is observed in the last 2-3 years, and this year, it is even bigger. A lot of them are getting skin diseases. There have been an increase in COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease- respiratory disorder) patients. A lot of children are getting respiratory diseases these days. Mostly they use pond water and stay in wet clothes. That may be the reason why the treatment isn’t working, with prolonged treatment, maybe the fungus is getting resistant to the usual treatment.” Vaishali: Low frequency and high-intensity rainfall, and saline water does not only affect their health but also affects the agriculture, fishing, prawn collection and trade. Most of the land there is agricultural. Paddy is the primary crop, and they have salt-resistant variants to grow. Alternative options are needed for them to sustain. Their local MLA Bankim Chandra Hazra said that the panchayats have a budget for digging ponds with fruit trees around the pond so that people have two sources of income, that is fish farming and fruits. Because of agricultural issues like yield levels, land available and water quality, people have opted for fishing and prawn baby collection. This change affects the quantity of both prawns and fish. One fisherwoman who lives in Beghukali said that overfishing is common there. Fisherwoman: “I have 4 kids. My husband works in the field. Our main source of income is agriculture. I do fishing in the river at times. There is not much fish left in the river, and that’s the problem. We can’t catch sweet fish like pona here anymore. There are so many families here. About 5-6 years ago, fish were in abundance. Overfishing is the biggest issue here.“ Tuhin: There is a very small batch of mangroves in Sagar Island. Some patches from the previous years' plantations became very rich. But people are not dependent on mangroves because those mangrove patches are not sufficient for them. They are mostly dependent on agriculture, and there is no inland mangrove. The salinity is increasing. From our survey, we found that offshore fishing is very popular in Sagar Island. People are getting new varieties of fish (especially high saline species). In the last 10-15 years, they lost some middle saline species. People are not fully dependent on ecosystem services other than fishing and agriculture. They don't have to go inside the forest because of the reduced forest cover, and availability of honey and crabs. People used to get them on the eastern side. If they fail in agriculture or fishing, they migrate seasonally to other states or towards Calcutta. They are not adapting to the situation. Vaishali: As Mr Tuhin said, many youngsters, especially young men, have migrated to the other parts of the country to find alternative livelihood options. Durga Shaw: “We can’t even do agriculture here. My son moved to Gujarat for work. He is 22 now. He has been earning for the house from there for the last 2 years. He gets around Rs.6000.” Vaishali: That was Durga Shaw from Sumati Nagar. Some, cannot afford to move out and have one of their family members sending them money. This is interesting because Sagar Island once saw a wave of in-migration from other islands like Ghoramara. Following that, Mr Hazra said that the land left to give to more people kept falling. 1120 families moved to Sagar Island in the 1960s and 70s, and they were given 2 acres of land each. As time went on, they couldn’t provide that much. The people live on lands classified as forest land. Tuhin: In-migration happened in the initial phase. The people of Sagar Island are mostly from Medinipur and Orissa. That happened in the 70s. When Lohachara and Ghoramara eroded, people migrated to Sagar Island. Presently, people are moving out to places like Kerala and Tamil Nadu because the labour force in those states are in the Middle East. So, there is a void in the labour force. That's why they are getting a regular job, work time and good wages. That's why people are going. These individuals migrate out for 3-9 months. The people who have their own land prefer construction job because they can come back during the monsoon. Vaishali: While the men move out to other states for work, the women stay back and find ways to safeguard their lands as well as earn a living. But this is not an easy task as they face the wrath of the river and the sea. Fisherwoman: “Women are the ones who mainly do fishing. When we sell 1000 bagda prawns, we get only Rs.100. We need to work even harder now. Due to the river, we can’t make a proper house here, that is why we live in this shack. Every day, the river breaks away chunks of land. A lot of people have lost their belongings to the river through this.” Vaishali: This fisherwoman who was hesitant to say her name lives on the coast of Beghukali. Her neighbour Angur Das, who is 75 years old said that the river water also comes into the land.
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