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Sunday 15 November 2015

Where Life Ebbs Away ... part 4

Byline: Deepa Philipps
India

Climate change is as real as it gets on the Ghoramara Island which is slowly eroding into the depths of the Bay of Bengal, reports Deepa Philip

On his part, Tripathi has been an active campaigner for the island. He has been speaking on various occasions, asking islanders to plant more trees and thereby prevent Ghoramara from sinking. He believes in, and promotes a methodology called 'bio-engineering' by scientists for sowing of plant species that will rapidly develop into dense populations, in order to check the flow of erosion.

 “Bio-engineering is a traditional, low-cost method of trapping soil and thereby protecting it from erosion,” explains Ghosh.

But he wages the battle alone. “Mostly my pleas fall on deaf ears, they [islanders] ask me to stop lecturing them,” Tripathi tells TEHELKA. So is his fight to save the island pointless? “I would not say my efforts are in vain, there are a few who pay heed and join me in planting trees,” he says.

However, individual efforts need to be backed by mega efforts both at national and international levels. In the talks leading up to the UN Framework for Climate Change Conference in December 2015, highlighting the plight of islands like Ghoramara is crucial.

“The issue of migrant population displaced from coastal areas due to climate change and sea level rise is global,” says Sugata Hazra, director, School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University. “The world needs a clear policy on how they should adapt to such situation, will they be provided with compensation, what would be the policies for migration, how India and other countries can take care of these global refugees.” 

With its pragmatic Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), India may have taken a right step towards addressing climate change concerns but has failed to recognize islands like Ghoramara in its own backyard, as victims of the global phenomenon.

 “It is imperative that the government declare the situation as a disaster,” Saha tells TEHELKA. “Just because Ghoramara generates little or no revenue, one can't overlook the disaster that it is facing or more importantly, ignore the ecological value of the Sundarbans themselves.”

India's call for 'climate justice' in the INDCs is apt in the context of Ghoramara and surrounding islands. “When we speak of climate justice, we demonstrate our sensitivity and resolve to secure the future of the poor from the perils of natural disaster,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently said in his address to the UN General Assembly. But how the country goes about recognizing and then securing justice for its environmental refugees remains to be seen.

... final part continues with the next post

This story was sourced through the Voices2Paris UNDP storytelling contest on climate change and developed thanks to John Upton, @ClimateCentral

 





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