25
Sep 2008 - My name is Hamid Bander. I am
58 years old and have lived on Mousuni Island
since birth. I completed secondary level
education but was not able to continue higher
studies due to financial constraint.
My father had six hectares
of agricultural land but almost five hectares
have been washed away by the sea. We are
11 brothers and sisters and had to share
one hectare land among us. Unfortunately
my share was recently washed away and now
I am rendered landless and compelled to
live over my brother’s share of land.
At the age of 17, I
ran away from home to work in Kolkata city.
I worked there for the next five years.
Later, I had to return to the island as
my father wanted me at home. At the age
of 22, I started fishing in coastal waters.
In 1960, when I was
10 years old, my house was around two kilometres
away from the coast. We had 45 households
in our neighbourhood. The coast had good
vegetative cover.
Increase of severe weather
events
Almost three decades
back we seldom witnessed such fury of nature
and devastation in terms of tidal surges,
breach of embankment and low pressure. Cyclones
and storms were of shorter duration, wind
speed was low and hence the embankment height
was also maintained lower (five to six feet).
However, for last 15-20 years we are witnessing
natural disasters of various magnitudes
almost every year. We have already lost
three houses. The height of the embankment
is almost 25 feet but still the tidal water
manages to gush into the communities.
Every day we are fighting
with nature and this is how we have managed
to survive until now. We are compelled to
build a new embankment after five embankments
are washed away by tidal water. Large expanse
of vegetative cover as well as agricultural
land has been lost to the sea.
The number of family
members is increasing but the land area
is decreasing which is creating socioeconomic
problems for us. My homestead is over 0.06
hectare land area which I had bought from
my brother. These days I go deep sea fishing
for four months and the rest of the time
I work as a labourer on farms and this is
how I manage to earn my livelihood.
I have two sons who
work in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
(ONGC). I am living my life in extreme hardship.
We live in darkness as there is no electricity.
Whatever little solar energy is available
is only limited to a select few households.
We have become used to complete darkness
and roaring tides at nights.
+ More
Climate Witness: Sheikh
Kalimuddin, India
23 Sep 2008 - I am Sheikh
Kalimuddin and I am 45 years old. I had
been living in Gangapalli mouza of Mousuni
Island in the Sundarbans Delta of West Bengal,
India since I was born. My father was born
in Kanthi in the East Midnapore district.
He originally moved to this island because
of the easy availability of cultivatable
land, but much has changed since then.
I have a wife, two son
and three daughters. I am primarily dependent
on agriculture and I farm 0.3 hectares of
land. I also work as a labourer.
I grew up under extreme
hardship. My parents died when I was only
one year old. Still I managed to complete
primary level education. During childhood,
I was supported by my brother’s family.
Later, we had differences and got separated
and I settled near the river. In early days,
I earned my livelihood repairing the embankment.
Impact of flooding
I have witnessed many
incidences of natural disasters due to flooding,
and two of them in 2000 and 2005 were major.
Embankments were breached
and salt water gushed into Mousini Island,
which caused a lot of damage. In the 2005,
a 900 metre stretch of embankment was broken
and many houses as well as standing crops
were damaged.
Farmers mostly suffer
due to the after-effect of flooding as salt
water flooded land remains fallow for the
next two to three years. Minor incidences
of flooding are quite frequent these days.
It mostly happens through overflow or breach
of embankment. We somehow manage to survive
under these circumstances.
During natural disasters,
which are mostly in the form of flooding,
we take refuge in Baliara Kishore High School.
Mousuni Island has four administrative divisions
(Baliara, Kushumtala, Bagdanga and Mousuni).
Baliara is the most vulnerable division
as it is situated near the confluence of
Bottala river and the Bay of Bengal. The
situation is deteriorating as sea level
seems to be rising.
Sometimes incidences
of minor flooding happen but I am fortunate
enough not to loose my house so far. But
when I get information regarding incoming
cyclones and storms from the radio I get
worried as I live dangerously close to the
river.
Shift in farming practices
The agricultural pattern
is changing due to the erratic behaviour
of monsoons. More stress is on cultivation
of hybrid and high yielding varieties of
crops. Traditional and indigenous crop varieties
are mostly marginalised. We are now using
more chemical fertilisers and pesticides
as the productivity is falling and also
due to increased risk of crop disease outbreaks.
Our rivers don’t have enough fish to catch
these days.
I cultivate paddy rice
(also known as rough rice) twice a year.
This year the winter paddy rice crop fetched
me 800 kgs of paddy rice from 0.13 hectare
of land. However, lack of rain and an extremely
hot summer damaged my chilly crop. Subsequent
disease outbreaks killed chilly plants.
Paddy rice and vegetable cultivation, poultry
and cattle rearing provide me with a livelihood.
I have 4 cows and 10 chickens.
There is also a sharp
contrast between the present and past biodiversity
level on this island. I don’t see dolphins
or the same variety of birds and fishes
any more.
We are aware that different
organisations are coming ahead to help us
and I request them to think of an alternative
for us which will be of great help.
