-The Telegraph Amphan changed the institutional knowledge of the Sunderbans folks. The Telegraph recounts how they lived the countdown to Cyclone Sitrang Gobardhanpur: Shankar Das is taking stock of the luggage for the last time. Hurriedly, with fear-ridden eyes. Outside, the wind speed is changing. It will take time to reach the school building on the village outskirts. His family will accompany him. If it gets late, there might be no space...
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In Two Corners of Bengal’s Coast, ‘Fire’ and Water Hold Women Hostage -Soumashree Sarkar and Pawanjot Kaur
-TheWire.in A ground report from two fishing villages, one in East Medinipur and the other in the Sundarban, reflects how various expressions of climate change leave a mark on health and wellbeing, especially of women. Jharkhali/ Nijkasba, West Bengal: It is easy to consider the south of West Bengal as an unwieldy side of the world that is acutely stricken by the climate crisis. Buzzwords like ‘salinity’, ‘storm surge’, ‘water-level rise’ and ‘ocean...
More »A ‘duet’ for India’s urban women -Jean Drèze
-The Hindu Public works could provide valuable support to the urban poor, especially if women get most of the jobs The COVID-19 crisis has drawn attention to the insecurities that haunt the lives of the urban poor. Generally, they are less insecure than the rural poor, partly because fallback work is easier to find in urban areas — if only pulling a rickshaw or selling snacks. Still, the urban poor are exposed...
More »How not to plan for a rainy day -R Srinivasan
-The Hindu Business Line The drastic change in the monsoon pattern in recent years calls for a holistic — and quick — policy response First, credit where credit is due. India’s planning and administrative machinery grinds exceedingly slowly, but eventually, it does get there, provided there is a big enough spur, and the political will to see changes through. Nothing illustrates this better than the fallout of two super cyclones of near...
More »Hundreds of Dalits stranded in Puri community shelters a month after Cyclone Fani -Satya Sundar Barik
-The Hindu They remain highly vulnerable to disaster, with weak resilience. Puri: Sulochana Das, a 35-year-old woman in the nondescript village of Sainsa Sasana, had little choice when her four-member family rushed to take refuge in a roadside shop as cyclone Fani menacingly hurtled towards the Odisha coast on May 3. A month later, Ms. Das’ family cannot just think of moving out of the 10 sq. ft. one-room shop because the place...
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