2020 has been a difficult year for the rural poor of the Coastal and South Bengal. First it was the pandemic of Covid-19 which wreaked havoc. The biggest casualty were the landless migrant workers who lost their livelihood and had to return to their villages, without work, without the basic source of income for two square meals a day. Then came the Super Cyclone Amphan on May 20, which completely turned life upside down. More than 100 lives were lost, estimated one million trees uprooted, vegetation lost, catastrophic to say the least.
The cyclone devastated the entire ecosystem of South Bengal, particularly Sundarbans and the Sagar Island. It not only destroyed the existing properties, also impacted the future source of income, farming & fishing as it has effected the fertile nature of land and made water saline due to ingress of sea water.
It is estimated that around 1500 sq. km area in Sunderbans suffered severe damages and over 10 lakh homes/shops were gone. Mangrove Forest is the source of income for the local population. With the same but lost, it will take years to rebuild it. Even, the remaining portion of the forest is in grave danger due to salinity and increase of water levels.
Recently, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that coming winter will see intense and frequent cyclones over Bay of Bengal. Which will make the winter of 2020 more dreadful for poor sufferers of Amphan. The poor people living in these areas are already struggling for food, clean drinkable water & employment and it seems the winter will test their endurance to the core. Every year precious lives are lost during winter due to unavailability of protective tools/blankets and this year the number may increase multiple times.
Ananta Seva Foundation, which was set up post Amphan to empower the poor live a life of equality and dignity has decided to reach out and provide blankets to over two thousand families of Hingalganj, Gosaba, Sagar Island, Sandeshkhali and Patharpratima, all were ravaged by Amphan and the villagers are still struggling to make their ends meet.
The foundation worked extensively in Sunderbans and South Bengal post Amphan, reaching out and providing relief under the project name “BENGAL NEEDS YOU” to over 1000 families including dry ration, tarpaulin, medicine, alum, mask, Sanitizers etc.
Speaking on the project, Kaushik Sinha, Director, Ananta Seva said, “We are in regular touch with the people in these remote areas. Our team members have visited some of these areas and seen how difficult life has been for the people there. Even after so many months, large number of houses are yet to be rebuild. Winter will be punishing for them. We wish to reach out early and provide whatever help we could. We wish to reach to as many as we could and would take help from our donors and launch a crowd funding campaign shortly. We request every citizen to come forward for the noble cause and support the poor fight the winter chill”, He added.
Photo Source: marketingtofarmers.com
