Thursday 28 July 2016
Friday 13 May 2016
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fishermen and prawn seed collector women of Sagar Island
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 |
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 |
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 |
Tuesday 26 April 2016
Poor planning raising vulnerability risk in Mousuni Island
The whole world is abuzz with the effects of Climate Change and policy makers are busy issuing rules, regulations and promises to cut down carbon emission. Fair enough as we concentrate on the urbanized affected communities across the world. But, the moment we focus towards the grassroot victims of Climate Change, the situation takes a different turn and no policies and rules seems to work for them!
Situation is not different for the worst effected climate victims of Mousuni Island, with population of 22,073 as per 2011 census. Covering an area of 23 sq. km., the small island has 4200 households of which 4136 (19%) belong to the Scheduled Caste and 855 (4%) are Scheduled Tribe.
Located about 100 km towards south of Kolkata, the island has 4 mouzas- Baghdanga, Kusumtala, Baliara and Mousuni under Namkhana Community Development Block, Parganas District, and West Bengal. But this small distance creates a big difference when it comes to even basic amenities like Health, Education, Sanitation and livelihood facilities.
Mousuni first came to limelight in 2009, when the dreaded cyclone AILA hit the island sweeping away hundreds of houses leaving the coastal communities homeless and landless. Apart from loss of lives and properties, thousands of the islanders lost their livelihood. Since then, about 9 kms of embankment has been breached in western part of the island itself. Every year, a large section of the island gets submerged due to rise in sea level because of the spring equinox and embankment breaching. The dilapidated embankments are no longer suitable with the changing river dynamics.
Mansura Bibi, a Panchayat Samilty member of Mousuni GP, says, “At least 150 to 200 families living near the embankment lose their homes and lands every year. We don’t want to relocate as this is land where we were born and grew up. We just want the embankments to be repaired so that it does not get breached every year.”
The major livelihood of the communities here is agriculture and fishing. But the salt water intrusion during coastal flooding causes a huge loss to these major livelihoods. The agricultural lands turn sterile for next 3 to 4 years leaving them with no option of livelihood. Most of them specially the male members of the families end up migrating to other cities in search of odd jobs as labourers. And, the females, who are left alone to take care of the children and elderly in the families, take up the profession of prawn seed collection, which is again hazardous to the health of the women and the surrounding ecosystem. The constant dragging of nets in salt water causes several skin diseases and gynecological problems among the women. It is reported that about 48 species of juvenile finfishes are wasted per net per day per hand, which amounts to loss of about 9.834 kg.
There is a huge crisis of safe drinking water in the island. The scarcity of potable water is mainly due to high salinity problem. Mousuni GP has total 150 Tube Wells, which is not enough to fulfill the requirement of the population of more than 22000. During coastal flooding, these Tube wells get inundated and thus they become non-functional even when the water recedes. Pond water is also not safe to drink as they also get inundated by salt water during floods every year.
Saheba Bibi, one of the flood affected victims of Baliara village gush shared that her family had 3 bighas of agricultural land which got washed away in consecutive floods every year. Now, they live on a small shanty on the embankment, which might also get washed away in the next flooding. Her husband opted for fishing after losing the agricultural lands but the fish catch has decreased due to the climate change effects like rising aquatic temperature and the use of fishing gear such as big bull trawlers, mechanized boats, PVC-made trawl, bag nets etc.
The islanders are yet to get access to grid electricity. Solar power is available to around 55% families who could afford to buy and maintain the solar plates. The rest are dependent on firewood kerosene for cooking and other domestic needs. Kerosene is also not readily available and it is very costly for the islanders. Therefore, the islanders have to perforce to gather fuel wood from the adjoining mangrove forest through illegal means for cooking purposes. Such practice increases vulnerability of the island to natural disaster.
A large section of the community defecates in open fields due to lack of proper sanitation facilities which again lead to various communicable diseases. The Primary Health center with one visiting doctor and 3 nurses is not enough to support the total population’s healthcare. They visit the island only twice a week. Due to lack of knowledge and non-availability and affordability of the community, the children suffer from malnutrition and pregnant mothers undergo the pain of miscarriages.
Rozina Khatun, a 22 year old woman shared the pain she had to undergo while giving birth to her daughter few months back. The lady had to travel 45 minutes by a motor van though bumpy roads as there is no pucca road or other modes of communication available within the island. The only Primary Health center is situated in Baghdanga village, which doesn’t have good connectivity with the other villages. There are several cases of miscarriage due to the lack of proper healthcare facility and dilapidated road condition.
SEED (Society for Socio Economic and Ecological Development), ventured in Mousuni Island after the cyclone in July 2014. Apart from some relief works, the organization distributed salt tolerant paddy varieties to 55 farmers whose agricultural lands were inundated with salt water. This was done with support from the Rice Research Institute, Government of West Bengal. However, this is just a temporary support and cannot come to the rescue of the aggravating situation of the island.
Hence, a thorough plan with action research needs to be done to address all the issues in a sustainable manner. Starting from safe drinking water, proper energy supply, health, sanitation and alternative livelihood options need to be explored with active community participation and support of local administration.
Several organizations ventured into the island with some temporary infrastructure support. But, due to lack of sustainable vision and maintenance, they are now in dilapidated condition. The sinking Island needs a foolproof embankment planning with modern technology and design along with infrastructure and livelihood support to protect this vulnerable climate change hot spot from further deprivation. Lack of domestic adaptation policies is also a big hindrance on the way of dealing with the changing climate in Mousuni which needs immediate attention.
 |
| Erosion around Mousuni Island |
Situation is not different for the worst effected climate victims of Mousuni Island, with population of 22,073 as per 2011 census. Covering an area of 23 sq. km., the small island has 4200 households of which 4136 (19%) belong to the Scheduled Caste and 855 (4%) are Scheduled Tribe.
Located about 100 km towards south of Kolkata, the island has 4 mouzas- Baghdanga, Kusumtala, Baliara and Mousuni under Namkhana Community Development Block, Parganas District, and West Bengal. But this small distance creates a big difference when it comes to even basic amenities like Health, Education, Sanitation and livelihood facilities.
Mousuni first came to limelight in 2009, when the dreaded cyclone AILA hit the island sweeping away hundreds of houses leaving the coastal communities homeless and landless. Apart from loss of lives and properties, thousands of the islanders lost their livelihood. Since then, about 9 kms of embankment has been breached in western part of the island itself. Every year, a large section of the island gets submerged due to rise in sea level because of the spring equinox and embankment breaching. The dilapidated embankments are no longer suitable with the changing river dynamics.
 |
| The dilapidated embankment in Baliara |
 |
| Mansura Bibi, Panchayat Samity member of Mousuni GP |
The major livelihood of the communities here is agriculture and fishing. But the salt water intrusion during coastal flooding causes a huge loss to these major livelihoods. The agricultural lands turn sterile for next 3 to 4 years leaving them with no option of livelihood. Most of them specially the male members of the families end up migrating to other cities in search of odd jobs as labourers. And, the females, who are left alone to take care of the children and elderly in the families, take up the profession of prawn seed collection, which is again hazardous to the health of the women and the surrounding ecosystem. The constant dragging of nets in salt water causes several skin diseases and gynecological problems among the women. It is reported that about 48 species of juvenile finfishes are wasted per net per day per hand, which amounts to loss of about 9.834 kg.
There is a huge crisis of safe drinking water in the island. The scarcity of potable water is mainly due to high salinity problem. Mousuni GP has total 150 Tube Wells, which is not enough to fulfill the requirement of the population of more than 22000. During coastal flooding, these Tube wells get inundated and thus they become non-functional even when the water recedes. Pond water is also not safe to drink as they also get inundated by salt water during floods every year.
Saheba Bibi, one of the flood affected victims of Baliara village gush shared that her family had 3 bighas of agricultural land which got washed away in consecutive floods every year. Now, they live on a small shanty on the embankment, which might also get washed away in the next flooding. Her husband opted for fishing after losing the agricultural lands but the fish catch has decreased due to the climate change effects like rising aquatic temperature and the use of fishing gear such as big bull trawlers, mechanized boats, PVC-made trawl, bag nets etc.
 |
| Saheba Bibi and Rozina Khatun |
The islanders are yet to get access to grid electricity. Solar power is available to around 55% families who could afford to buy and maintain the solar plates. The rest are dependent on firewood kerosene for cooking and other domestic needs. Kerosene is also not readily available and it is very costly for the islanders. Therefore, the islanders have to perforce to gather fuel wood from the adjoining mangrove forest through illegal means for cooking purposes. Such practice increases vulnerability of the island to natural disaster.
A large section of the community defecates in open fields due to lack of proper sanitation facilities which again lead to various communicable diseases. The Primary Health center with one visiting doctor and 3 nurses is not enough to support the total population’s healthcare. They visit the island only twice a week. Due to lack of knowledge and non-availability and affordability of the community, the children suffer from malnutrition and pregnant mothers undergo the pain of miscarriages.
Rozina Khatun, a 22 year old woman shared the pain she had to undergo while giving birth to her daughter few months back. The lady had to travel 45 minutes by a motor van though bumpy roads as there is no pucca road or other modes of communication available within the island. The only Primary Health center is situated in Baghdanga village, which doesn’t have good connectivity with the other villages. There are several cases of miscarriage due to the lack of proper healthcare facility and dilapidated road condition.
SEED (Society for Socio Economic and Ecological Development), ventured in Mousuni Island after the cyclone in July 2014. Apart from some relief works, the organization distributed salt tolerant paddy varieties to 55 farmers whose agricultural lands were inundated with salt water. This was done with support from the Rice Research Institute, Government of West Bengal. However, this is just a temporary support and cannot come to the rescue of the aggravating situation of the island.
 |
| Sterile agricultural lands of Mousuni Island after salt water intrusion |
Several organizations ventured into the island with some temporary infrastructure support. But, due to lack of sustainable vision and maintenance, they are now in dilapidated condition. The sinking Island needs a foolproof embankment planning with modern technology and design along with infrastructure and livelihood support to protect this vulnerable climate change hot spot from further deprivation. Lack of domestic adaptation policies is also a big hindrance on the way of dealing with the changing climate in Mousuni which needs immediate attention.
Monday 1 February 2016
Climate Change Effects: Survivors of Sundarban fight against hopeless hopes
The whole world is abuzz with
the effects of Climate Change and policy makers are busy issuing rules,
regulations and promises to cut down carbon emission. Fair enough as we
concentrate on the urbanized affected communities across the world. But, the
moment we focus towards the grassroot victims of Climate Change, the situation
takes a different turn and no policies and rules seems to work for them!
Here, we are talking about the
much talked about coastal Sundarbans, which is one of the worst affected areas
of Global Climate Change. Among the 102 islands of Sundarban, Mousuni is one of
the 54 islands, which had been inhabited by human population. The island would
have never come to focus if the dreaded AILA would not have washed away huge
section of it by displacing them from their homes and lands.
 |
| As we approach towards Mousuni Isalnd |
Saheba Bibi, 31 year old women
from Baliayara Village of Mousuni Island is one of those displaced communities.
Her in-laws were all fishermen by profession and owned agricultural land of 3
bighas. But that demonic AILA washed away all they had. Her father-in-law
passed away without getting proper treatment after AILA. The family of seven
members including her husband, two children, two brother-in-laws and ailing
mother-in-law, spend two and half months in a shanty over the embankment
without proper food and safe drinking water. When asked about the relief from
the government, the lady was in tears saying that they were not lucky enough to
get any yet!
 |
| Saheba Bibi in front of her house |
They were somehow settling with
their lost livelihood and properties when cyclone hit them again in 2014 and
this time she lost her mother-in-law who couldn’t survive this trauma. Her
husband, who was also a fisherman, was not living with them this time as he was
in Kerela, working as a labour along with his brothers in a construction house.
Like him, hundreds of inhabitants of Sundarban left to Kerela and other places
like Andhrapradesh and Gujarat in search of better livelihood. Without any
specialized skill, they end up joining as labours in the construction houses,
brick fields etc.
Back home, when everything was messed
up, the men of the house were far distant place, working 12 hours risking their
lives on high rise buildings. Hearing the news of flooding at their homeland,
Saheba’s husband decided to return home with the money he earned in 7 months. But
the destiny was cruel to him as he faced a dreaded accident while crossing the
railway tracks. His legs were injured badly and he returned home empty handed
and bruised legs as all money were spent in his treatment.
 |
| Saheba showing where house was before AILA |
 |
| Saheba's Husband |
 |
| Saheba's husband showing his injured legs |
The couple has now started
business of dry fishes, which has also very low demand in their locality. They
merely earn Rs. 150-200 in a week from this business but still hoping to give a
better life to their children. Their 14 year old son studies in class 8 in a
nearby school and 12 year old daughter is a class 3 dropout who helps her
mother in domestic work. They cannot afford to send both the children in school
at a time so they choose the boy to study as they girl will be married in next
few years!
Saheba, who has keen interest
in embroidery (locally known as zari work) used to stitch sarees earlier a year
back along with few other women of her neighbourhood. But, the earning was
quite low as they used to get around Rs. 150 for a saree and that again had to
be divided among 5 women. So, they stopped working that but willing to work on
that if they are given better deals. As we were talking to Saheba, we were
joined by Mansura Bibi, who is a local Panchyat representative. The lady in her
early forties is very agile and is hopeful to have a better life for the women
of her locality. She came with a proposal of starting some training sessions for
these women who are interested in zari work. However, she didn’t forget to add
that how all the women of the village are now living without their men as most
of them have migrated to other cities in search of work. She is concerned about
the safety of the women and children of her locality as there were many cases
of trafficking in the Mousuni Island itself. She added that many were lured in
the name of job and marriage without dowry and later they were trafficked in
distant cities. However, they have become alert now and prefer to keep their
daughters unmarried rather them sending them with an outsider.
 |
| Neighbours of Sahenba who also suffered like her and looking forward to a better life and livelihood |
There are hundreds others like
Saheba, who are struggling daily for two times meal and safe drinking water.
The ponds of their locality are intruded with saline water and the water cannot
be used for even cleaning the clothes as they turn dirtier after washing. The
barren lands will be probably inundated with saline water again in the next
monsoon. But, life has not stopped as they continue to struggle and look for
good days to return.
 |
| Roads for the local Commuters |
Another big concern of the women of this locality is healthcare. The only government hospital of their area is situated near Baghdanga village, which is more than 45 minutes journey by bumpy roads and the only option for conveyance is motor van or cycle van. Adding to this trauma, Mansura Bibi said that atleast 5 women of her village have suffered miscarriage as they couldn’t avail proper medical support when it was needed the most.
When we crave for the luxuries
of our lives, these coastal women just want a glass of safe drinking water for
their families, two times meal and a shelter that guarantees safety during
coastal flooding.
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