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Sunday 15 November 2015

Where Life Ebbs Away

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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