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
Drowning in Despair: Vishnu Poda Routh believes his
native island will go under water within ten years
In
January 2014, the World Bank released a strategy report 'Building Resilience
for Sustainable Development of the Sundarbans'. In its report, the organization
has pegged losses to India due to climate change occurring in Sundarbans at Rs
1290 crore annually. It is evident that in overlooking the damages, India is
harming none but itself. And many on the eroding island second that.
“I have been seeing the waters, eat up my
island since I was a boy,” Maity, now 48 years old, tells TEHELKA. Walking home
barefoot, after buying essentials from Kakdwip, his white dhoti is splayed with
mud but he has more important things to worry about. “We are like rose petals that
can wither away any moment,” he says, as each word hangs ominously in the damp,
moist air.
This story was sourced through the Voices2Paris UNDP storytelling contest on climate change and developed thanks to John Upton, @ClimateCentral
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