In Focus: Two initiatives working in covid & cyclone-affected areas of West Bengal. 

Listed on ruralindia.help, a campaign by Jhatkaa.org

Context

The dual calamity of an ongoing pandemic coupled with the Severe Cyclonic Storm (Cyclone Yaas) that was accompanied by the monstrous Full Moon High Tide (Bhora Kotal) has caused massive devastation to the people in Sundarbans, West Bengal that needs urgent relief and rehabilitation measures. 

While the Sundarbans did not themselves come into the eye of the storm, exceptionally high tides emanating from the cyclonic weather conditions coinciding with Full Moon during 25- 26 May have resulted in more than 3 Lakh houses being demolished and over 4 Lakh hectares of agricultural land destroyed through salination. Thousands of barrages have been breached leading to the entry of saltwater in over 1.3 Lakh hectares of land. Hundreds of villages have been swept away and the residents evacuated and currently housed along with their cattle in Government flood relief centres. Read more

We were able to support 600 families with the donations that our members contributed along with SKI and KSCH. Going forward we along with KSCH plan to plant Mangrove around the Sundarbans that will stabilise the coastline and protect the community at Sundarbans.

Kolkata Society for Cultural Heritage (KSCH) have been working extensively in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. 

About the Initiative:

Name of Initiative: Save Sundarban (from cyclone YAAS) by KSCH
Region: Gosaba, Kultali, Sagar Dwip, Pathar Prathima, Kakdwip
District: South 24 Parganas
State: West Bengal
Name of Initiative representative: Sourav Mukherjee
Initiative report: Here
Read our interview with KSCH here