India: Aila-hit Sundarbans grapples with eroded banks, incomplete shelters

Six years ago, the mangroves at Sundarbans had acted as Kolkata’s saviour from Aila, by absorbing a massive chunk of the cylone’s fury. Finding ‘clear signs of erosion’ on the banks along the Sundarbans, a research team from JNU in collaboration with the West Bengal Disaster Management Authority, has stressed on the need for a ‘multi-disaster hazard plan’ while pointing out that cyclone Aila in 2009 had caused a lot more devastation in India, than it had in Bangladesh. Six years ago, the mangroves at Sundarbans had acted as Kolkata’s saviour from Aila, by absorbing a massive chunk of the cylone’s fury.

Today, as many as 1,012 multi-purpose cyclone shelters are being built in vulnerable locations across all coastal states under a National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Programme (NCRMP). At the Sundarbans, alone, the government has set aside funds worth Rs 8,000 crore for relief, which will directly impact lives of 4 million people.