Development of the Sunderbans: A priority for Didi

The Indian side of the Sunderbans is undergoing devastation at an almost irreversible rate 

- DOLA MITRA

It  is raining incessantly and the residents of a Sunderban village are preparing to place sand bags on the banks of the Muriganga River which flows by their village. These serve as buttresses against water seeping in when the tides swell. “We don’t take any chances. The river has been rising at an alarming rate over the past decades and flooding is a regular occurrence. We regularly monitor the weather reports for cyclone alerts during these times of hot weather because this is when the super storms form in the Bay of Bengal,” says Gouranga Mete of Ghoramara Island, which has been eroding day-by-day due to the increase in water levels. The social worker has been actively participating in governmental and other programs which oversee the work of trying to prevent the dangerous decay of the islands.