CRY of help for erosion victims

Here is an existential dilemma. They belonged to Bengal till they woke up one morning to find themselves in Jharkhand.

Now both the states won't have them. Bengal won't have them because what was their village has submerged under the sea and they have scampered on to chars or new land emerging out of the sea which fall in Jharkhand.

Jharkhand won't have them since they have papers that show them belonging to Bengal. And the chars of course will remain without any civic amenities as they are not revenue villages as yet.

Child Relief and You has highlighted the continuing crisis in the lives of 7,00,000 people in Malda and Murshidabad who have been displaced due to sea erosion.

And sea erosion does not attract any compensation packages from either states, though it leads to losses in education, health services and, of course, shelter and livelihood, as schools, clinics and farmlands submerge.

Those displaced have ration cards and voter ID cards issued to them by the West Bengal government. But due to coastal erosion these people have moved outside the boundaries of West Bengal towards Jharkhand, says the CRY survey.

According to the CRY report, about 750 sq km of land, of which 269 sq km of fertile land belonging to 59 mouzas of Manikchak, KaliachakII and KaliachakIII blocks in West Bengal alongside the river, have been completely wiped out.

The river has so far eroded 356 sq km of fertile land from the district of Murshidabad too. The CRY report seeks to extend the example to the condition of all those who live alongside coastal areas and are victims of coastal erosion.

The West Bengal irrigation department admits that the intensity of erosion has increased enormously after the construction of the barrage both upstream and downstream of the Ganga river at Farakka.

According to CRY, inter-state boundaries are fixed, and they don't take into account the changes caused due to change in the course of the river. In the words of the victims of the Malda coastal erosion: "If we know which administration we belong to, we could figure out our rights and make necessary demands."

The newly emerged clusters of settlement (chars) are not acknowledged as revenue villages.

Around 60 primary schools and Madrasas have been destroyed. Around 14 high schools have also been destroyed.

The once developed areas like Panchanandapur in Malda and Dhulian in Murshidabad districts have lost their existence completely, due to which, several youths living in these areas have never been to a school and are illiterate.

In addition, several temples, mosques, mango orchards, administrative offices, lands used for silk cultivation, small shops have all been destroyed due to erosion and bank failure.

People have moved from their homes for four to 16 times in their lives during the last 15 years.

People living on chars cannot avail government schemes that are meant to benefit the poor, like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which provides 100 days of guaranteed work to all rural households.

The anti-erosion work scheduled was handed over to inexperienced local petty contractors, CRY alleged. This has resulted in local people getting involved in the corruption. A large section of the funds are being pushed to develop nearby hotels which was evident when the CRY team visited the area.