The Sundarbans is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It has always been a symbol of the beauty of West Bengal, India and Bangladesh. It was declared as a UNESCO World heritage site in 1987. Sundarban as the protector of West Bengal from tropical cyclones, maintains the ecological system properly. The forests provide habitat to 453 faunal wildlife, including 290 bird, 120 fish, 42 mammal, 35 reptile and eight amphibian species. Plants like shrubs, halophytes can tolerate high-energy wave action and other various plants protect a large amount of area from Storm, Cyclone and sea-wave hit.

However, the continuous aggression of our careless treatment with the mangrove forest has been weakening the shield for a long time now. For this reason, Sundarban is facing several catastrophic issues in recent times. In last twelve years this area has experienced three strong cyclones – Aila, Bulbul, Fani and very recently Amphan. Cyclones occur when the sea temperature is above 26 or 27 degrees Celsius. More than 80 cyclones form at sea in a year. Most of them lose their and very few cyclones hit the land. But in recent times, the average temperature has increased due to pollutions and consequently the temperature of the sea has increased tremendously resulting in an increase in the frequency of cyclones.

This year Cyclone Amphan hit West Bengal hard on May 20 with heavy rains, a massive storm surge and sustained winds of 170 kilometers (105 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 190 kph (118 mph). The devastating storm passed directly through the Sundarbans. The Sundarban delta has 102 islands of which 54 are inhabited. Most of the people in these Islands are very much poor. Cultivation and Fishing are the only source of income for them. But climate change has been making their lives harder. 50 years old Shankar Das from Patharpratima G-Plot told

“We have witnessed several disasters. Even the cyclone Aila and Bulbul were very dangerous, but this specific storm was something else. It was much more devastating”.

He also added that the lockdown due to COVID – 19 have caused financial issues which have made the condition even harder to handle in this bleak hour. Sundarban, along with the other parts of two parganas, are severely damaged.

“Amphan has changed our lives probably forever. It will take long time to bring back normalcy”, quoted Rakibul Hassan, a very young guy from Sonakhali.

Due to land inundation along the river bank, many villages of 24 parganas were flooded. The severely affected places include Rangabelia from Gosaba, Mohanpur – Harinhula (Under Minakha block), Tiyamari – Khalisakhali ( Hasnabad Area) etc. More than 40 villages were flooded. Arjun Das and Bulbul Das live in Bachhra area of North 24 parganas. They informed that a large part of their village is under water.

“Maximum people from our locality have taken shelter in the local school building. Our house is completely under water. We have somehow managed to make a small hut beside our house to take shelter”, said Arjun.

He also added that he has lost his job due to this Corona outbreak. He became involved in fishery and poultry business in this lockdown period but they were lost in flood. His wife Bulbul is a rural health worker. She stated that, even if Sundarban comes back to normal condition when the water level declines, people will still remain affected by different diseases. She has already started to supply essential medicines to locals.

“But nobody knows how the issue with the food supply will be mended. We got some ration from different aids but that’s not sufficient”, said Bulbul.

The storms’ impact was dangerous for Sundarban habitants. Mud homes were devastated, embankments were destroyed and farms were inundated by saline water that made them unfit for cultivation. Last storms had forced many people to migrate to the cities in recent years. But now with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down businesses and limiting mobility, villagers were unable to go to any other work; it became more problematic for those people.
Poverty, Insecurity creates several known and unknown dangerous issues in lives of these people.

“Can you see the yellow leaves?”, asked by Shyamapada Mridha.

 Sixty five years old Shyamapada Mridha from Rangabelia Village told me that Amphan hit with a huge amount of saline water that destroyed the tree leaves. Huge amount of Leaves in Sundarban area dried for this saline weather.

“It has destroyed our land completely, made the soil saline. Now it’ll take 3-5 years to recover”, Shyamapada Said.

Their lives are now pale like those dried trees.