Gurvinder Singh

Koley Kisku, a primary school student at Ranipur village at Rampurhat block in Birbhum district of West Bengal suffers from a thyroid gland related ailment that has partially affected his ability to speak. His school mates say that the 11-year-old could speak normally till a few years ago but he began to lose his voice.

Gulam Mustafa owns around five acres of land at Digalhati Moynaguri village in Coochbehar district of West Bengal. The 34-year-old has switched to “smart farming” to minimise labour cost and water use.

Nikhil Bagdi has attempted suicide twice in the past one month. Fortunately, his neighbours came to his rescue whenever he tried to end his life by hanging from the ceiling of his room. Nikhil lives in Serorai village of Bardhaman district in West Bengal, a little over 120 kilometres from Kolkata. 

Basanti Haldar (45) has been living in a slum at Kalikapur in Kolkata for over two decades. She works as a domestic help in an upscale locality in the neighbourhood. She is happy nowadays due to an increase in her income. 

At the age of 70, Renupada Bagdi of Doniapur village in Birbhum district of West Bengal is on a mission to convince his fellow farmers to take up organic farming just like he did a few years ago. He knows from his experience that chemical fertilisers do not yield crops as big companies make it out to be.

A lot has been discussed about the acute water crisis in many parts of India. But who would have thought some villages in rural West Bengal have to depend on a neighbouring nation for water?

“Our village is also called the swimmers’ village because almost all of us including small children know how to swim. To learn swimming is not a luxury but a necessity for us.

The industrial township of Durgapur, situated 150 km from Kolkata, faced a severe water crisis for two days in November last year when the Durgapur barrage became dry following a leak at one of the lock gates of the barrage.

West Bengal’s tryst with dengue in 2017 could not have been more deadly. Around 13000 people were affected and nearly 100 people lost their lives to the disease.

The beautiful city of Kolkata had another first to its credit when the much anticipated floating market was inaugurated on January 24 by the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee.