South 24 Parganas District

Women play a central role in providing, managing, and safeguarding water. Yet, the waterscapes across the world are distinctly gendered in that productive use of water gets ascribed to men while reproductive use gets ascribed to women. That is, drinking water and sanitation are considered a woman’s domain, while irrigation is regarded as a man’s domain.

Due to its geographic location and low-lying coastal morphology, India's Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve (SBR) is extremely susceptible to cyclones and tidal surges. This deltaic region frequently sees cyclones that cause property damage and human casualties.

A recent study dealing with the Indian Sundarbans, the cyclone capital of India,  uncovers how and why advances in scientific knowledge and technological developments are failing to enhance resilience of the marginal and vulnerable populations, instead continually unmaking their lived environments.

Sundarbans delta is the largest mangrove forest reserve in the world with distinct species of wild flora and fauna. It is a source of livelihood for several communities residing in the vicinity. The indigenous plants, extraction of honey and catching fish from rivers, lakes and rivulets have good economic value in surroundings markets.

Lack of access to safe drinking water is a daunting development challenge and a quarter of individuals globally do not have access to safe drinking water in their homes.

As a major source of potable water, hand pumps are ubiquitous in rural India.

The Amphan cyclone that struck the Sundarbans in the month of May this year has wreaked havoc in the area destroying lives and livelihood. A lot of the locals living in the Sundarbans depend on animal husbandry and fishing to earn a living. The cyclone destroyed animal rearing shelters and swept away most of the cattle and domestic animals.

UN’s recognition of safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right recently hit a decade and this makes us ponder even more about the situation in the Sundarbans after the Amphan cyclone. The destruction caused by Amphan in the Sundarbans poses a massive threat to the very right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation of the people living there.

A crowd of people jostling by the ticket counter at Jhansi railway station in Uttar Pradesh; men and women, some with families in tow, boarding trains to Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai and other big cities. These are common sights during the summer months at Jhansi, a major town and railway junction.

The Amphan cyclone has disfigured the lives of people living in the Sundarbans. Houses have been torn apart, farms have been filled with brackish water making the land unsuitable for farming and betel leaves have been destroyed. People in the Sundarbans are in a life-threatening situation with makeshift shacks to live in and no means to earn a living.