Extreme Weather Hits Sundarban in India: ‘The River has Taken Our Land’

Bidyut tells the story about how the river has expanded by a third since he was a child. And the heavy rainfall he has seen lately is more than he has ever experienced before.

He lives in the middle of Sundarban, a gigantic river delta that stretches across both sides of the Bangladeshi and Indian border. In recent years, the river has grown a third wider than when Bidyut was a child, and the rains are only getting heavier.

This bit of the flood is his entire home and he lives in fear that he will be forced to move one day. Heavy floods will destroy his home, and his livelihood. This extreme weather is eroding much land, and at the same time creating new islands in the middle of the river, which means that now tigers can cross over into his village. Intensive Reforestation could secure their future.

This report is part of the documentary ‘Voices of our Ocean’, which is being shown in connection with the UN’s ongoing climate summit in Brazil. In their own words and with selected images, they talk about their relationship with the sea, the urgent need to protect it and how climate change is affecting and transforming their lives. Hear each of them share their story.