{"id":78,"date":"2017-01-25T13:00:47","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/?p=78"},"modified":"2017-08-14T14:50:03","modified_gmt":"2017-08-14T13:50:03","slug":"land-disappearing-beneath-your-feet-environmental-migration-in-the-sundarbans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/2017\/01\/25\/land-disappearing-beneath-your-feet-environmental-migration-in-the-sundarbans\/","title":{"rendered":"Land disappearing beneath your feet – environmental migration in the Sundarbans"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Colette Mortreux, Rituparna Hajra and Tuhin Ghosh (DECCMA)<\/em><\/p>\n

Like all deltas, the islands in the Sundarbans are constantly being remoulded by environmental forces. Formation and reformation of islands results from the balance (or otherwise) between inflows of water and sediment load. When rainfall or snowmelt in the highlands is high, the greater erosive force of the river reduces the size of the islands; but when water in the river is reduced it encourages sedimentation and the growth of the islands. Sea level rise also plays a role in the dynamic environment.<\/p>\n

\"Map

Map 1: location of Ghoramara and Sagar islands in the Indian Bengal delta<\/p><\/div>\n

show more<\/p>

<\/p>\n

Ghoramara island, in the Hoogly estuary in the southwest of the Sundarbans (map 1), was formed in the early 20th century. Particularly high water levels submerged a larger island \u2013 Sagar (see map 1), resulting in the formation of five additional islands. It remained relatively stable when the freshwater flow from the Ganges River was fairly stable. Underground tectonic movements then led to a slight shift eastwards in the course of the Ganges. The result was that water inflow was significantly reduced and, as the dynamics in the estuary responded, Ghoramara began to be eroded. Its land area has halved in less than 40 years \u2013 from 8.5km2 in 1975, to less than 4.5km2 in 2012 (map 2).<\/p>\n

\"Map

Map 2: Shrinking area of Ghoramara island between 1975-2012<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Recognising the dynamism of deltas, in the late 1970s the Government of West Bengal declared Ghoramara island as \u2018No man’s land\u2019. Support for protective infrastructure, such as the construction of embankments, and services such as health, drinking water and education was stopped. As the land disappeared beneath their feet, the 5000 inhabitants of Ghoramara had no choice but to leave their homes \u2013 true environmental migrants.<\/p>\n

Together with environmental migrants from two other islands that has been completely submerged \u2013 Lohachara and Khasimara \u2013 residents of Ghoramara were resettled in seven colonies on other islands, or on the mainland. Land Records from Sagar Block highlighted that legal titles, or pattas, were granted to the environmental migrants to Sagar Island. First phase migrants in the 1970s and 1980s, mainly from the submerged Lohachara sland, received 1.2-1.6 acres per each household. Those from Khasimara and Ghoramara tended to migrate later, in the 1990s. They were granted smaller plots (0.4 to 0.8 acres) but also received a one room house from the government schemes (Indira Awas Yojana).<\/p>\n

Environmental migrants to Sagar Island were also supported with activities to enable them to rebuild their livelihoods. Stable embankment, fresh water ponds were constructed, and government food rations were available until they became established (including 300 gms wheat and 500 gms rice per head per week).<\/p>\n

\"Figure

Figure 1b: Population Growth Trend in Sagar Island during 1971-2001 (Source: Ghosh et al. 2014)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

\"Figure

Figure 1a: Population Growth Trend in Ghoramara Island during 1971-2001 (Source: Ghosh et al. 2014)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

The problem is that the ongoing influx of migrants led to population growth in Sagar Island exceeding projections (figure 1a & b). This has placed a strain on resources. Resettled migrants now complain of degradation in their living conditions, including lack of availability of drinking water and sanitation.<\/p>\n

Neither India\u2019s national government nor the state government of West Bengal have resettlement and rehabilitation policies to cover displaced people, which means that there is also no planned compensation package. Population pressure and the resultant demands on resources mean it is not realistic to expect the authorities in the receiving areas to provide livelihood compensation for environmental migrants. Some are able to practice fishing, deep sea fishing, and agriculture. Others are forced to migrate again, shifting the problem elsewhere. Given that the nature of the delta means land is going to continue to disappear beneath people\u2019s feet, a proactive approach by government is necessary to provide for environmental migrants.<\/p>\n

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show less<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Colette Mortreux, Rituparna Hajra and Tuhin Ghosh (DECCMA) Like all deltas, the islands in the Sundarbans are constantly being remoulded by environmental forces. Formation and reformation of islands results from the balance (or otherwise) between inflows of water and sediment load. When rainfall or snowmelt in the highlands is high, the greater erosive force […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-india"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1323,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions\/1323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}