Environment

After Aila Cyclone

DTE Staff
What the Indian Meteorological Department failed to communicate, the elders sensed immediately and warned their people of a potential cyclone



Photographs by – Prasanta Biswas/ DRIK/ Majority World
Gosaba, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



A crashed wooden frame and crumbling walls is what they have left of their homes. But many are coming back to claim what is rightfully theirs, be it a few posters off their walls. In times of disaster, everything is a potential resource—laminated posters are handy materials to wrap food in and keep it from contaminating.



Photographs by - Prasanta Biswas/ DRIK/ Majorityworld
The district officials argue that it will be difficult to reach relief to everyone. Cyclone Aila has disrupted the usual routes of contact and the remoteness of certain islands does not help. Already, troubled by an erratic climate and a rising sea level, the absence of strategy and effort by the state, heighten the insecurity felt by the people of Sunderban Islands



Photographs by Nilayan Dutta / DRIK/ Majority World
Amlamethi, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



They have managed to survive this one but will they manage to adapt to other disasters that seem to be in the offing?



Cyclone Aila is not the biggest thing that has hit them yet. They had coped with Sidr in 2007 and Nargis in 2008, both hit the coast at speeds twice than that of Aila. But cyclone Aila was a more intense affair.



It spent a lot of time getting agitated on the sea and what it lost in speed it retained in intensity. Higher sea surface temperatures also helped



Borotushkali, Sunderbans, West Bengal



1,80, 000 homes were destroyed by cyclone Aila. People will soon begun returning but how will they rebuild their lives?



The state has asked for a relief package of 1000 crores from the Central government. It is still to plan, how the aid will reach the people



Photographs by – Bijoy Chowdhury/ DRIK/ Majority World
Cyclone Aila was here. This is the floating evidence. One million people have lost their homes. This is just a rough estimate. Their numbers could be more. If they want to migrate to safety, can the mainland accommodate this exodus?



Photographs by - Bijoy Chowdhury / DRIK/ Majority world
People jostle for space as they wait for relief. Water is gushing in and the land in Sunderban islands is slowly giving way to the sea. It is already getting crowded. Sunderban delta could see the first major migration of climate change refugees



Photographs by Nilayan Dutta / DRIK/ Majority World
Khulna, Sunderban, West Bengal



Most of them have lost their homes to Cyclone Aila. Now, they lurch forward to catch relief supplies. As caught in the picture, the ratio of the supplies to the people is abysmally low. The administration took its time to react and a Sunday in between— government holiday — cut into the officials time to manage and dispatch relief



Photographs by - Bijoy Chowdhury / DRIK/ Majority world
Amlamethi, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



A boy looks curiously at something while the elders have more important matters at hand—women quickly whisk away dry wood, a commodity not easy to come by in the damp squalor left behind by Aila.



Will the wood be used to light a stove or a pyre, we will never know?



Photographs by - Prasanta Biswas/ DRIK/ Majorityworld
Close to a million are living in the open, dependant on an outsider's help for basic necessities. The government responds by distributing 7177 bags of rice, 640 bags of pulses. Has Sunderbans been giving the Census of India a slip or has the government grossly under estimated the 'numbers' in need of assistance?



Photographs by Nilayan Dutta / DRIK/ Majority World
Amlamethi, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



The official counts of death are way off their mark. The district officials are out of sync with ground zero reality. With people accorded such treatment, livestock count take a back seat.



Not for those whose livelihoods depend on them. Many wanted to save their cows. Just to get them transported to safety they were willing to give them away for free and



Photographs by - Prasanta Biswas/ DRIK/ Majorityworld

Gosaba, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



She stands next to a broken embankment and waits for relief. The 3,500-kilometer embankment has more than 800 points of critical breach and a 400-kilometer stretch has completely washed away.



Late in delivering relief supplies to many, the district administration is miles away from repairing the embankments. Meanwhile, people make ad-hoc efforts to plug the embankments with sand. More sturdy material — sandbags, bamboo, concrete (?) are not available



Khulna, Sunderbans, West Bengal



Can I get some too, please.



Boats carrying relief supplies bring some cheer but there may not be enough for everyone



Photographs by – Bijoy Chowdhury/ DRIK/ Majority World
Khulna, sunderban, West Bengal, India



Desperate times are no excuse to forget order. People stand in queue to receive aid. The Cyclone hit them on May 25th and they are seeing the relief boats for the first time, a week later



Photographs by - Bijoy Chowdhury / DRIK/ Majority world
A harmonium can be very heavy to carry while trying to escape mountain high waves. It must be very special to someone



Photographs by Nilayan Dutta / DRIK/ Majority World
Borotushkhali, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



The gods have gone crazy in this part of the world. This is a view of a home ravaged recently by Cyclone Aila.



The sea around these people is rising, they are losing their meager land holdings to erosion and now the climate is turning rogue, it has become difficult to predict its next move. Meanwhile, people have resigned to living one day at a time



Photographs by - Bijoy Chowdhury / DRIK/ Majority world
An exposed body and a stripped home. The paraphernalia that connects the two sits huddled, covered in tarpaulin, facing an uncertain future



Photographs by Nilayan Dutta / DRIK/ Majority World
Amlamethi, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



Embankments break and the sea intrudes into the lives of those who stand abandoned by both state and god. CPI (M), the political party in power did not get a popular mandate from the people, here.



It has chosen this moment to get even. Political will and relief supply are both less than adequate



Photographs by - Prasanta Biswas/ DRIK/ Majorityworld
Amlamethi, Sunderban, West Bengal, India.



His family just about managed to salvage the bare few essentials — some pots and pans to store drinking water and a tarpaulin sheet to cover their heads.



Cyclone Aila turned close to a million, homeless, overnight. The disaster-hit refugees have taken to living in the open in temporary shelters. Many villages have relocated to boats. As people continue floating towards an uncertain future, one can only guess, what he thinks…is he missing home or contemplating the awful force of nature



Jhupkali, Sunderbans, West Bengal



1,80, 000 homes were destroyed by cyclone Aila. People will soon begun returning but how will they rebuild their lives?



The state has asked for a relief package of 1000 crores from the Central government. It is still to plan, how the aid will reach the people



Photographs by – Bijoy Chowdhury/ DRIK/ Majority World
Borotushkali, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



Their frustration never moves beyond their mute lips. Their voice never reaches the right ears. Mostly a milked for political gains, Sunderbans has been deserted by her elected government in her hour of need



Photographs by - Bijoy Chowdhury / DRIK/ Majority world
Waiting for the waters to recede. It may take a while. In the meantime, most of the land may become too saline for the coming agriculture season



Photographs by Nilayan Dutta / DRIK/ Majority World
Jhupkali, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



Children jump into the river for food. Nimble footed and agile, they are the first to reach the boats carrying relief supplies



Photographs by - Bijoy Chowdhury / DRIK/ Majority world
Carcasses -both human and animal- are still seen floating around. Most of the water is contaminated and clean water is hard to come by. Authorities fear an outbreak of water borne diseases. It may have taken this boy a good part of the day to fill that jug, hopefully with clean water



Photographs by Nilayan Dutta / DRIK/ Majority World
A little space nudged out for a kitchen – some reassuring order amidst the chaos that surrounds her



Photographs by – Prasanta Biswas/ DRIK/ Majority World
Amlamethi, Sunderban, West Bengal, India.

Next to the wide expanse of Bay of Bengal sit the defeated patches of agricultural landÔÇö now, pools of saline water. Cyclone Aila washed in a lot of seawater and it may take 4 years of strong rainfall to wring all that salt from the landÔÇÖs crust. An easier fix was possible if the district officials had not held out on providing pump sets, which could have been used to flush out the seawater. Till then, crops may fail and debts will mount

Photographs by - Prasanta Biswas/ DRIK/ Majorityworld
Manipur, Sunderbans, West Bengal



1,80, 000 homes were destroyed by cyclone Aila. People will soon begun returning but how will they rebuild their lives?



The state has asked for a relief package of 1000 crores from the Central government. It is still to plan, how the aid will reach the people



Photographs by – Bijoy Chowdhury/ DRIK/ Majority World
Borotushkali, Sunderbans, West Bengal



1,80, 000 homes were destroyed by cyclone Aila. People will soon begun returning but how will they rebuild their lives?



The state has asked for a relief package of 1000 crores from the Central government. It is still to plan, how the aid will reach the people



Photographs by – Bijoy Chowdhury/ DRIK/ Majority World
Sarbaria, Sunderban, West Bengal, India



Cyclone Aila in its wake left behind a trail of death but strengthened the resolve of the living to survive. A man continues to fish while another lies dead.



In the confusion and mayhem unleashed on the people by Aila, people are losing count of their loved ones and bodies are piling. With no quick and efficient means of disposing them in sight, disease outbreaks are waiting to happen. Symptoms of Cholera have already been spotted



Photographs by - Bijoy Chowdhury / DRIK/ Majority world
Bamboo sticks become quick fixes for broken embankments. Their techniques may appear primitive but people didn't have time to deliberate, strategise and delay action. State officials can do that



Photographs by Nilayan Dutta / DRIK/ Majority World