Nurturing Futures: Early Childhood Care in the Sundarbans

 

Tucked between the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers, the Sundarbans is one of the world’s largest mangrove forests—a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its biodiversity and resilience. Yet behind this natural beauty lies a silent crisis: the vulnerable state of early childhood care for thousands of children growing up in one of India’s most ecologically sensitive and economically challenged regions.

Current situation

Early childhood care in the Sundarbans is shaped by a complex interplay of geography, poverty, climate vulnerability, and social factors. Children under six in this region face heightened risks due to natural disasters, malnutrition, limited healthcare, and educational gaps.

The first five years of a child’s life are critical. Brain development, emotional well-being, physical health, and social skills are largely shaped during this time. For children in the Sundarbans—many of whom face poverty, malnutrition, frequent displacement due to cyclones, and limited access to healthcare—early interventions can be life-changing.

Ghoramara island, located approximately 92 km south of Kolkata in the Sundarbans delta, is confronting severe environmental challenges due to climate change. Once spanning about 26 square kilometers, the island has diminished to roughly 6.7 square kilometers, primarily due to rapid coastal erosion and rising sea levels. This drastic reduction has led to a significant decrease in its population, from around 40,000 in the 1970s to approximately 5,193 residents as per the 2011 Census. Population of children with age 0-6 is 694 which makes up 13.36 % of total population of the island. Insufficient healthcare infrastructure and geographical challenges due to remoteness of the island adds to the plight of the children as the coastal area keeps facing repeated climatic shocks such as cyclones and floods. Children are mostly born without right antenatal care and are not sufficiently nourished during the first few months of their lives to suffer from undernutrition and related health problems. Preschool education here is usually handled by Anganwadis, but quality and reach are not enough considering the present scenario.

Malnutrition is a major concern, especially in fishing communities and landless labourers which constitutes more than 90% of the community here. Income is unstable and access to healthcare is limited due to remoteness and disaster-prone nature. High soil salinity, erratic monsoons and poverty restrict food production, leading to micronutrient deficiencies in children.

The Khashimara village
school destroyed due to erosion 

Seasonal migration in fishing communities affects consistent preschool attendance. Infrastructure in many centres is vulnerable to monsoons and cyclones, affecting continuity and shortage of trained caregivers add fuel to this. Children also face trauma, displacement, and anxiety, impacting their psychosocial development. Dearth of safe play spaces and structured group activities impairs social-emotional learning in young

Children.

Parental care plays a pivotal role in early childhood development, as a child's brain development, emotional health, and social skills are greatly influenced by early relationships with caregivers. In the Sundarbans, where families often rely on fishing, farming, and other subsistence activities, parental care gets affected by various socio-economic factors.

Challenges for Parents in the Sundarbans:

Economic pressures: Many parents in the Sundarbans face economic challenges, which limits the time, energy, and resources they devote to child-rearing.

Migration and displacement: Due to the cyclical nature of floods, storms, and displacement, parents are usually unable to provide stable caregiving in times of uncertainty.

Lack of formal education: Parents do not have access to information on child development, leading to less awareness about the importance of nurturing behaviours.

Cultural and social norms: Traditional gender roles also leads to disproportionate amount of caregiving responsibility on mothers, leaving them overburdened, while also limiting fathers’ involvement in early childhood development.

SEED, with financial support from SBI Foundation under the project “Muskaan”, has set up two Early Childhood Care Centres (ECCC) in Raypara village of Ghoramara and Radhakrishnapur village of Sagar Islands of Sundarban. These centres aim to provide comprehensive support to children aged 0–6 years from marginalized and displaced families. Here the children will be provided with-

Ø  Daily nutritious meals and fortified supplements.

Ø  Quarterly health screenings and micronutrient distribution (vitamin A & D and iron) and deworming.

Ø  Play-based pre-primary education focusing on foundational literacy and numeracy.

Ø  Parental workshops on child nutrition, early learning, and positive caregiving.
This initiative targets at least 100 children, with a special emphasis on supporting girls and children from SC, ST, and minority communities.

These children were selected followed by a baseline survey and need assessment by the experts. Quarterly growth and bi-annual health screenings (vision, hearing, dental & developmental screenings) will be conducted to improve health status. The children will be prepared for formal schooling with play-based pre-primary education process.

Program Goals:

Cognitive Development & Emotional Resilience

Target: 50% of children will benefit within one year.

Method: Through structured play, storytelling, and guided interactions, the program aims to foster both cognitive and emotional growth in the children.

Parental Education & Engagement

Target: Educate 70% of caregivers/mothers.

Method: Monthly workshops focusing on key areas: exclusive breastfeeding, child nutrition, early learning, and positive caregiving.

Outcome: Enhance maternal engagement by at least 15%.

Training and sensitization for parents, especially mothers, will be provided on the importance of early childhood care which can improve child development outcomes.

Training of the teachers 

Many areas in the Sundarbans lack access to advanced medical facilities and trained healthcare professionals, making it difficult for mothers to receive adequate prenatal, postnatal, and general health care.

Under this “Muskaan” Project, SEED will provide regular health checkups for mothers would be conducted along with psychological counselling to monitor their physical and mental health. Addressing postpartum depression (PPD) is crucial as it can affect both the mother and the baby. Health professionals, such as community health workers would be trained and involved in this programme to recognize signs of PPD and refer mothers for psychological counselling or therapy. The stresses of motherhood, combined with economic hardship and environmental concerns like frequent floods or cyclones can contribute to mental health issues. These counselling sessions will create safe spaces where mothers can talk about their mental health that can help to reduce anxiety, depression, and stress. The mothers will also be taught the coping strategies for dealing with the stress caused by environmental challenges, like floods or loss of livelihood, which can help them manage their emotions better.

The joyful learning Centre 

Achievements of this project will be assessed through a mid-term survey after one period after comparing these findings with those of the baseline survey.

Early childhood care in the Sundarbans is both a necessity and a challenge. The region's geographic isolation, frequent natural disasters, and limited infrastructure significantly hinder access to quality education, nutrition, and healthcare for young children. However, we are optimistic that early investment in childhood development can break this cycle of poverty and improve long-term outcomes for the communities. This collaborative approach will ensure that children in the Sundarbans receive the nurturing care and opportunities they need to thrive, laying a strong foundation for a resilient and empowered future generation.

Effects of COVID-19 in education of children in West Bengal

Written By - Brinda Bhattacharyya

COVID 19 has proved yet again that India’s great digital march is only a double-edged sword because now, more than ever, it has become expressly evident that the digital divide is no less than any of the other inequities. While academic institutions across the country took the giant leap into switching to virtual platforms overnight and most urban and semi-urban learners followed the Pied Piper, many got left behind in the make-over. Bengal was not an exception.

The biggest bane proved to be poor connectivity, followed by the students not having the right infrastructure, like smartphones needed for the applications and tools and the platforms required by the online classes. Affordability was a critical factor, more so with many of the parents’ losing jobs, not getting salaries, or surviving on reduced incomes. 

This has been compounded by the fact that with all of the learning happening at home and many of the students being first generation learners who do not have a strong educational background back home, there is not enough parental support. Earlier, for students attending state-run schools, it was the institutional learning within the school premises that was the main source of learning. However, now with students learning from home, children are now being forced to depend on their parents. For first generation learners, the impact on learning has been more severe. To add to these disruptions caused by the pandemic, West Bengal was also hit by a cyclone, 'Amphan' in 2020. Electricity and network grids crashed, jeopardizing the already fragile teaching-learning system. An article released on The Hindu shows that 40% of primary school students could not avail proper classes or study during the pandemic.

According to research conducted, a Report on Rapid Assessment of Status of Child Rights in West Bengal showed that 71 % of children were deprived of the access to digital education, 17 % had to make do with a compromise on their regular meals, and 11 % of the sick children could not avail medical treatment. Only 21.5% of the students hailing from lower classes had access to online education at the pre-primary and primary level, and merely 53.2% of students from the higher socio-economic classes had access to online education.

To add to this is the despair that many poor families can merely afford one or two gadgets, which they are forced to share with their siblings, parents etc, as a result of which they miss out on classes, if at that time any other family member needs to use the gadget. 

The pandemic has had some even more distressing fallouts. The economic instability has seen the re-emergence of child-labour, as a counter-productive to all of the Government’s best efforts to provide education to all children in government institutions. The financial stress caused by COVID-19 has also seen an exodus of students registered in private schools. Many families have had to shift their students from private schools to government schools just because they could not afford quality education. Over a quarter of the students claimed that they had to shift geographical locations for various reasons, one being that online classes did not really work out for them during the 17-month long lockdown period.

To add to these woes, this period of limbo has witnessed a serious discrepancy in learning outcomes. An evaluation on the performance of the students in these times have indicated a decline between their performance in online examination, when compared to the offline ones. Studies show that only half the students from fifth grade are able to study material which is tailored to 2nd grade. Most parents feel that their ward's reading and writing abilities have deteriorated severely during the lockdown period, and what would follow is 'a recipe for disaster'.   

Remedial measures are being taken for some of these issues. Face to face classes are limping back to life again, and one hopes that with stressed the improvements in the fields of mandatory resource allocation, functionality of the school management committees, and by making the education system more robust by bringing in trained and qualified professionals some of these damages may be remedied. 

Prevent and Fight Covid-19: Beware of Misinformation, Develop Healthy Habits

Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance - George Bernard Shaw

The World is not only engulfed by the pandemic Covid-19 now, it is also being swallowed by the constant flow of misinformation from various sources. This chain of misinformation has not only friended the elite or educated section of the society who have huge access to various source of information. The lower strata of the society are becoming the easy target of this misinformation. So, along with fighting the deadly virus, we also need to fight against such misinformation.

Safai Karmacharis and their family members at Ambedkar Colony, Alipore, Kolkata

However, this fight is not as easy as it sounds! The fake news and information spreads like wildfire and causes a huge roadblock in fighting the pandemic. Hence, to start with, we need to identify the wrong information passed to the community and then communicate the true information with easy and practical examples through right medium. 

Two weeks before Corona entered the territory of India, SEED organized an Awareness programme on Health, Sanitation, Hygiene and Cleanliness with the 700 plus families members including children of Sanitation workers of Ambedkar Colony, Alipore, Kolkata. The purpose was to motivate them to adopt Healthy and clean lifestyle in their daily lives and to keep them safe from any such diseases. Dr. Madhumita Dobe (Director & Professor, All India Institute of Hygiene & Public Health) joined us in this endeavor and conducted two interactive sessions with audio visual presentation for better understanding. 

Dr. Madhumita Dobe ineteracting with participants

The Safai Karmacharis, who play a great role in keeping the city clean and its citizens healthy, are often taken for granted. They are often exposed to multiple occupational and environmental hazards. Recurrent news items about sewer deaths, pit collapses, and illnesses are often dismissed as isolated incidents rather than part of a systemic issue. Apart from these, they also risk the health of their families as they regularly come in contact with so many dirty things. They include the toilet cleaners, caretakers in domestic, public, and institutional settings, those who empty pits and septic tanks once full and other fecal sludge handlers, those who clean sewers and manholes and those who work at sewage and fecal waste treatment and disposal sites. 

Dr. Madhumita Dobe started the session by interacting with the participants and tried to assess their daily lifestyle and habits and how they take care of health and hygiene. One senior female worker said that they heard about the missions of Central and State Governments on cleanliness but they usually forget to follow the directions when it comes to practical use. So, Dr. Dobe asked them to think of the health of their children and the consequences of not following the hygienic habits then they will never forget. She advised simple healthy habits like brushing teeth early morning, washing hands before cooking, serving and eating food, cleaning clothes daily and taking bath, covering the foods properly during and after cooking etc. 

It was followed by a brief session with the women Safai Karmacharis and other female members of their families. They were informed about basic Menstrual Hygiene practices and the taboos and myths which they should avoid for better health and social life. The women were also informed about some gynecological problems that they may suffer if they don’t take care of proper personal hygiene in everyday life and especially during menstruation. The participants also had some queries which were answered by the Doctor and other experts present.

Dr. Somenath Bhattacharya, an Eminent Environmentalist and a key speaker at the programme, informed them how dirty surrounding can lead to the spread of various diseases that are also communicable. So, he asked then to keep their surrounding environment clean to destroy the breeding ground of such organisms. One of the bad habits is to spit anywhere which is neither pleasing to the eyes nor good for a healthy environment. He advised them to get rid of this habit of spitting at public places to keep surrounding environment clean and healthy.

Dr. Soumi Mazumdar conducted an interactive awareness session with the 150 children of Safai Karmacharis on cleanliness and hygienic sanitation practices. 

Dr. Soumi Mazumdar with the children of Safai Karmacharis

She explained them basic points of personal hygiene which starts from washing hands and brushing teeth twice a day, covering their mouth when they cough, having regular baths or showers. She also discussed about the need of wearing fresh clothes every day, even if their old clothes don’t smell and cleaning underwear every day. The children enjoyed watching the animation video explaining all the hygiene needs of daily life.

Children enjoying the audio-visual session on cleanliness and personal hygiene

All the participating family members of Safai Karmacharis were given “Hygiene Kits” (containing, soaps, hand wash, toothbrush toothpaste, hair oil shampoo, Dettol antiseptic liquid etc) in Cloth Bags along with refreshments. They were asked to use these products to stay clean and share with their family members.

100 senior “Safai Karmacharis” were felicitated to motivate them and honour them for the risks they take to keep our surrounding clean and hygiene. The programme was organized with support from BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited), Kolkata.

Felicitated Safai Karmacharis at Ambedkar Colony

It was encouraging to find that the women Safai Karmacharis were more concerned about the health and sanitation issues of their family members. But the sad part was that they were not much interested or aware about their personal health issues and felt ignored. However, our aim was to motivate them to stay healthy as a family and society and for this we stressed on the motivation of women more as they take care of the overall family.

We tried to pass on correct information on healthy habits, personal hygiene and sanitation through this two days Workshop and hopefully it helped them to fight during this pandemic. As it is said “Knowledge is Power”; we believe that power will keep them aware to prevent the disease to spread in their area. 

What is more painful– Menstruation or the Taboos?

The pain for periods is less painful in many parts of Indian society than the pain caused by the taboos and myths around it. Shock, embarrassment and Shame – are three common words associated with the girls when they experience their menarche, first period. This happens mostly because of the taboos which stop their elders to talk about it beforehand.

Why can’t we erase menstrual taboos from India when the country is progressing in every aspect including the literacy rate, which is at 74.04%? We are updating our mobile phones, Television sets and even the kitchen utensils more often than our age old thoughts and most of them with no logic or science. Lots of organizations and individuals are now working around the issue of menstrual myths and taboos but the fact is that they still exist with strong roots. So, where is it going wrong or lacking?

Well, for this, we need to first find out the origin of these taboos and how they propagate. It usually starts at a girl’s home itself, when the mother or any other lady of the house first draws a line around the girl when she reaches menarche. In most of the cases, the girls are not pre-informed so when it starts, they get the first big shock of her life because of the unpreparedness. And, why it is not discussed earlier because the women in the house feel shy to talk about it to their adolescents beforehand. The series of myths and taboos start from menarche, when she is instructed not to play with her brothers or male friends. The mental block is formed at this small age and then she gets ban from entering kitchen or any religious places or participate in festivals as she is considered impure during periods. It is believed that even the smell of the menstruating girl can spoil the food. In some families, no other person even touches the girl before she gets purified!

A menstruating girl is usually given a separate place to sleep and in some cases, without any proper bedding whereas she needs best of her comfort during this time. The male members are not allowed to enter that area forget about taking care of that girl. More than 88% of our women still use shocking alternatives like rugs, unsanitised clothes, newspapers, dried leaves, husks and ashes during menstruation. It is not always because they can’t afford to buy sanitary pads but in many cases because of the taboos believed by the family. 

Some strange taboos and myths around menstruation are-

• Menstrual blood is considered to be the consequence of a punishment from a deity

• A girl can’t wash or cut hair during menstruation

• The flowers and plants will die quicker if a menstruating woman touches them

• Ban from any religious places during periods

• Shower or bathing during this time will lead to infertility

• The menstruating girls talking to a man will make him sick

• Pickle will get contaminated even if the jar is touched by a menstruating woman

• Period stops if you get into water

And the list will go on! So, the answer of any woman will be it is the age old rule and traditions of our society and we must respect them. The toughest nut to crack here is the thought process of the so called traditional thoughts that creates an invisible barrier for the women. But then again, we can’t change the society on the click of a button neither can we relax just respecting their myths and taboos. It can be started from the adolescents who are preparing to be future parents of the next generation that can be stopped to go forward with the burden of these taboos. Schools can be starting point to break this thought barrier as the parents also believe their child will never bad things from there. If these adolescent girls and boys are properly taught about the physiology of menstruation and why it should be considered as a biological process then they will not follow the age old taboos. The schools can also conduct a workshop for the parents and children together on menstrual facts so that the mental block is broken slowly and steadily. Usually, the male members of the family are never involved in the menstrual talks as if it is top secret of the females only! The boys should know the pain their sisters and mother go through during periods and while giving birth so that they grow up being more sensitive. They won’t tease a girl if she is spotted with period blood rather will try to help her out. 

The stigma around menstruation cannot be removed just by educating women as it needs equal participation of men who are equal half of the society. Even the workplaces need to be period friendly to bring gender equality or the attendance of the female staffs can have an impact. 

If a girl grows up with lots of restrictions during her menstruation then half of her productivity will go waste and the negative impact of these stigmas will badly affect her health and hygiene. Today, on the “Menstrual Hygiene Day”, we can take the pledge to no more encourage the taboos and myths and help our women to live a healthy, hygienic and free life.

SEED launches “Sashya Sphiti” project in district Nadia with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

SEED has recently launched a project titled “Sashya Sphiti” under the Corporate Social Responsibility of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Farm Sector) in district Nadia of West Bengal. The project is intended to increase the production of mustard about 10 percent through scientific farming and sustainable cultivation.

Under this two year project, 400 farmers from Dhubulia Gram Panchayat of Nadia district’s Krishnanagar Block II have been chosen. These farmers have been cultivating mustard in traditional method without any scientific input or technical support. As a result, their yield was not satisfactory while they have been paying a good sum on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. 

These farmers have been distributed the tried and tested variety of seeds “Swarnadhara” for cultivation in their land which is total 400 acres. Agriculture Experts from “Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya” and “Pulse & Research Station, Baharampur”, Agriculture Dept., Govt. of WB, will provide technical support to these farmers. 

The farmers will be given hands on training to lower the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and increase the oil percentage near to our national average 42%. Now, they are getting much lower than this oil percentage. The farmers will be trained in soil testing, PH calculation and proper preparation of the land before sowing the seeds. They will also be supported with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer. Our team will train them in preparing bio compost and motivate the farmers using more of it instead of chemical fertilizer.

The new variety of seed is tolerant to pests and diseases and downy mildew. The plants grown from this seed is expected to have high primary and secondary branches within the maturity period of 100 to 110 days. 

The seed distribution of 1.5 kg per farmer has been done on 8th October, 2017 at Dhubulia Gram Panchayat of Krishnanagar. The training by the agriculture experts will follow soon. The trainings will be given in ToT (training of the trainers) mode. The representatives who will attend the first set of training will later provide training to other farmers of their village. Thus, they will become self-sustainable and they can work in a team. 

Climate Mobilization March with School students at Kolkata

Improper Embankment Planning and lack of Protection leads to livelihood shock in Sagar Island

Sagar Island, situated in the East coast of India, is the biggest among the 54 inhabited deltaic islands of Sundarban. Like other islands of Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, this island is also characterized by mangrove swamps, waterways and small rivers. The major livelihood here is Agriculture and fishing and fishery related enterprises. 

Fishermen and prawn seed collector women of Sagar Island

As per census 2011, the population of Sagar Block is 2, 11,993 and about 37,674 families inhabit in 47 mouzas of Sagar spreading over 66,399 acres of area. In the past decade, Sagar has already lost about 30 km2 of land. At the same time, Sagar is also now home to about 20,000 climate refugees from other islands which have disappeared or fast disappearing due to climate change. Among the total population, 58,284 belong to the Scheduled Caste and 834 are Scheduled Tribe. Thus, more than 25% of the population of Sagar belong to marginalised section of population who has to bear the curse of social discrimination.

Due to premature reclamation, ground level in some parts of Sagar Island is approximately 3 meters below the eustatic sea level. These areas are protected by embankments which breach frequently due to increased tidal action and wave energy as a result of climate change. The situation has further deteriorated due to indiscriminate clearing of mangroves on the riverside of the embankments in the past decades. For lack of affordable and available land, about 8000 to 10,000 families live along riverside and are exposed to adverse climatic conditions. 

Embankment breaching in Sagar Island

The land based primary livelihood agriculture is highly impacted by the rising sea levels, coastal erosion, loss of mangrove cover and salt water intrusion. The entire area is low-lying and parts of it are regularly submerged by the tidal ebb and any change in sea level is a direct threat to life and property. The increment in salinity badly affects fishermen and farmers alike. More than 40% of the community in Sagar Island is dependent on fishing. So, the changing sea surface temperature and salinity is hugely affecting their fish catch and economy.

Unpredicted rainfall patterns also upset the farmers as most of them are dependent on rain-fed conventional cultivation of crops. Shifting of rainfall to the post-monsoon period has left them confused which crop to grow and when. The community in Sagar mostly practice monocrop and the rain usually arrives when the harvest is ready to be reaped. Thus, a large section of the standing crop get destroyed every year. If that was not enough then salt water intrusion is ready to spoil the cultivation fields due to sea level rise and embankment breaching.  

Flood victims moving towards higher areas in Sagar Island

In Sundarbans, maximum erosion occurs in the South Western part and Sagar is one of them. Every year, either moving embankments towards landward side or river swallows a good share of land in the south east centre Dhablat, the north east Kuchuberia and Beguakhali on the south coast. As per the satellite image and available information, the entire south coast of Sagar island has been eroding at least for the last 50 years. This results not only loss of property and lives but also a huge loss of cultivable land and livelihoods. 

The ever increasing tidal waves enter several parts of the island and constantly increasing the salinity of the cultivable lands. This is badly affecting the cultivation of vegetables and major crops like paddy and betel vine. The community here is well aware of the fact that without proper planning and protection of embankment, agriculture will stand still in Sagar Island. They complain about improper use of the government funds for embankment construction by the local middlemen. 

Betelvine, the second major crop of Sagar Island, is also under huge threat due to Climate Change. The plant grows best in mild temperature and high humidity. It is a high risk crop that requires frequent watering to keep it alive and healthy. It is very sensitive to saline and alkaline soils. Erratic rainfall pattern and constantly rising temperature is giving tough time to the betelvine cultivators. Most of the farmers cannot afford to bear the cost of irrigation and fail to maintain the vineyard properly. The changing climate also increases a number of fungal and bacterial pathogens and cause different diseases to the plant. The most common diseases are Anthracnose, Angary, marginal blight and leaf spot affecting both leaves and vines. Moreover, the farmers are not aware of various modern agricultural techniques and crop insurance which may help during flood or drought like disastrous situation. 

Nitai Barui, a 76 year old resident of Sagar Island says that he had seen intrusion of salt water during monsoon since his childhood days but this process has pre-poned in recent years and salt water intrusion starts even from the month of March and April. His wrinkled face turned pale when he said, “The salt water will again destroy our agricultural lands if any concrete plan is not prepared to protect the embankment.”

Spraying pesticide in the betelvine yard 

Fishing is the second most practised livelihood in Sagar and most fishermen are complaining of lower volumes of fish catch. The fishermen community blames it partially to the violation of territorial waters by deep sea trawlers and also to the increase in the salinity of the water. 

Abdar Ali Shah, Secretary of Sagar Marine Fishermen Association, says that he has been associated with the deep sea fishing for last 25 years. He quipped, “Now-a-days, the catch of fish is quite low compared to 20 years back. The changes in temperature, humidity and erosion have affected the spawning of fishes. In fact, water is much polluted these days because of pesticides and by the trawlers. Many members of our fishing community are running under debt due to decline in fish catch. All efforts to improve the situation have turned futile and fishing craft owners are almost bankrupt and committing suicide.” 

Sagar has got grid electricity in 2014 but this has left the existing PV plants unutilized which are public property. Tapas Chakrabarti, Asst. Professor, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata conducted a case study recently on these unutilized photovoltaic cells in Sagar Island. Sharing his study results, Mr. Chakrabarti said that 9 plants are not working at present except the plant of Koylapara. He added that these plants may be connected to the grid with minimum investment as the infrastructures of the plants are there and the produced solar photovoltaic power may be connected to the grid. The renewable energy produced from these plants can compensate the conventional power and also can minimize the environmental hazards due to the production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. This can also open up the scope of earning revenue and generate employment for the local youths.

Tapas Chakrabarti, Asst. Professor, Electronics & Communication Engineering,
Heritage Institute of Technology, checking the condition of the PV plants in Sagar

SEED (Society for Socio Economic and Ecological Development) has been working in Sagar Island since last decade and trying to develop different alternate livelihood opportunities mainly for the Climate Change refugees who migrated from nearby submerged islands like Lohachera, Suparibhanga and Ghoramara. Initially, the organization formed and mobilized different SHGs (Self Help Groups) and provided capacity building trainings in alternate livelihoods like preparation of Handicraft items, value added products (pickles, papad, squash etc.), organic agriculture and aquaculture and integrated pest management.

 Capacity builidng training of women in Organic agriculture and Handicraft items by SEED

A non-formal school was also organised for the Climate affected vulnerable community children and health camps are being organized often in addition to disaster preparedness workshops. Different awareness campaigns on Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change effects on livelihood have been organized in Sagar by SEED. Fish Production Groups (FPGs) were organized and linked to RKVY plan of Govt. of West Bengal to facilitate their entrepreneurship.  

Non- Formal school run by SEED in Sagar Island

However, all these activities will turn futile if a proper embankment protection planning does not come up. Considering the pace of rise in sea levels and coastal erosion, proper planning for embankment protection is high priority for more than 2 lakh islanders in Sagar. A joint action plan with involvement of local communities, NGOs, specialized government representative might enhance community resilience and provide a sustainable solution to the vulnerable situation of Sagar Island.