A PHOTO ESSAY ON

“GANGA BHANGAN”

And

The Child

CAMPAIGN BY NSHM CRY VOLUNTEERS…

R A V A G E D B Y A R IV E R . . .

In all cultures and communities, the river has a place of pride in it’s literature and music but when the life giver and the provider of sustenance suddenly starts engulfing those dependent on it, it’s benign presence becomes a terror...

The Farrakka Barrage' - a proud entrant into the Guiness Book of World Records .. ..Not because it forced the Ganges to change its

course and kill 500000 people living on its banks…… but because its the longest barrage in the world

MAP INDICATING THE LOCATION OF MALDA AND THE FARAKKA BARRAGE.

River Expert Kapil Bhattacharya had predicted

construction of the barrage wil l lead to mass scale erosion in Malda , Murshidabad and eventually even Kolkata wil l go under the waters.

All his predictions are coming true and next in line is Kolkata.

What lies behind are the islands sans identity - 'chars' in the local language

The Barrage Gates

• The river Ganga - obstructed by the Farakka Barrage started changing its course, in the process eroding the mainland of Malda and adjacent areas in West Bengal.

• As the river eroded from one side silt started depositing on the other side thus forming islands.

• These islands came to be known as CHARS which were later occupied by people who lost their homes in the “bhangan”( erosion of the land by the river changing its course).

LAND LOST TO THE LAW

• Between 1931 and 1978, according to official reports, a total of over 14,335 hectares of land in Malda district was lost to the river

• The West Bengal Government refused to acknowledge those lands as part of West Bengal.

• 11th Amendment of the Land Rehabilitation Act - the land which comes up after silt deposition following an erosion usually belonged to the people who have lost their lands in the “bhangan”.

• 12th Amendment - once a land is lost to the river the owner loses his/her land rights

They belonged to Bengal until they woke up one morning to find themselves in Jharkhand…

“YOU keep going your way, I’ll keep going my way, River keep away from my door.”

What is her identity?

Which state does she belong to?

Why can’t she go to school?

What does the future hold for her?

Child Sex ratio (no of females per 1000 males) :967

Child Population as a percentage of total population : 19.19

Literacy rate (excluding 0-6 year age group in %) :50.71

Female literacy rate (excluding 0-6 year age group in %) : 41.67

SOURCE: AS PER 2001 CENSUS.

“ , ,A N E W H O M E O U R N E W L IF E , O U R F O U R T H H O M E A F O R T H. .…L IF E

• EROSION VICTIMS- 7 LAKH people.• 40,000 FAMILIES HAVE SUFFERED.• 60 PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND 14

HIGH SCHOOLS WERE DESTROYED.

• PEOPLE HAD TO MOVE THEIR HOUSES 3 TO 16TIMES IN 30 YEARS.

SOURCE- GANGA BHANGAN PROTIRODH ACTION NAGARIK COMMITTEE

FACTS

The remains of the walking bridge which has been engulfed by the river…

•The bridge broke on 3rd September, 2004.

•Over 1 lakh people used the bridge everyday to move from Malda town to the villages, across the river.

PEOPLE SPEAK ……

“ Previously we used to travel by road. Now we travel by boat to the same place .

But we still belong to Bengal.”

•Only 7% of the chars have primary schools

•High school located in the mainland - Most children are forced to drop out of school after 4th standard - - Traveling by boat to the mainland everyday becomes unaffordable.

•6 teachers and about 350-400 school-going children, in total.

•The existing schools are either non formal schools or run by the Jharkhand Government.

•Quality of the schools is extremely poor.

•The local teachers play the dual role of teachers and quack doctors.

•BOAT- the only connection between the chars and the mainland •Charges per person per trip – Rs 10 •Reasons for coming to mainland - Buying salt / Getting medicines, / attending high schools

B R ID G E B E T W E E N T H E T W O…W O R L D S

Nirupama,aged 58, a resident of the Khatiakhana char had a heart attack in the morning at 11 o’clock.

She needed immediate medical attention but the nearest hospital is in malda (mainland).

The 1.5 km JOURNEY (which on road would have taken just minutes) TOOK A STAGGERING 2 hrs

Her condition worsened. Such is the plight of all the char residents.

HEALTH CONDITIONS• There are no hospitals in the chars.

• A pregnant woman has to be taken 10kms away by boat to Malda (mainland). Moreover the duration of the journey by boat to the mainland is of minimum 1 hour.

• 13 pregnant mothers have expired due to lack of timely medical attention in the past one year.

• Even schemes like pulse polio are a far cry in most chars.

• Most children suffer from malnutrition.

• 15-20 children die on an average, of malnutrition, per annum.

Source- ganga bhangan protirodh action nagarik committee

The Irony of Dual Citizenship

This is Pullesh da, the morol of Hamidpur char, who has received a Voter Id card from Jharkhand and Ration Card from West Bengal.

R e f u g e e s in t h e ir O w n L a n d

• These people of the chars - displaced due to river erosion - does not receive any compensation from either Bengal or Jharkhand Government.

• Some of the Central Government Schemes are routed through Jharkhand which is nothing but an illusion for the char residents

• The ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) and SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) schemes are barely functional.

• Jharkhand government has issued Voter’s ID Card but job applications made to Jharkhand state are rejected as they are considered as outsiders.

L O N E M O D E O F IN L A N DT R A N S P O R T A T IO N …

T H E M A R O F A R S E N IC P O L L U T IO N A LS O E X IS T

- , W A T E R W A T E R E V E R YW H E R E N O T A . .D R O P T O D R IN K

•According to WHO, the permissible level of arsenic in drinking water is

0.00017 mg/L,

•But the detection limit ranged from <0.0007 to 0.64 mg/L.

•Increased mortality rate, of especially children, from liver, colon, kidney and bladder cancer to drinking arsenic-contaminated water.

• 15,000 PEOPLE (approx.) HAVE DIED LAST YEAR OF ARSENIC POLLUTION IN THESE 25 VILLAGES.

T H E S E E YE S H A V E S E E N IT……A L L

, W IT H T H E F A R A K K A IN T H E IR B A C K YA R D W H Y D OT H E Y

H A V E T O D E P E N D O N T H IS A L T E R N A T IV E S O U R C E ? ?O F E N E R G Y

Deprived of proper education children and adolescents have been forced to work.

They are engaged in cattle rearing bidi making and fishing

The average daily wage of adults working in the chars is less than Rupees 60 .

“ W A D IN G T O W A R D S H ISF U T U R E ”

L A N D S E E M S A ,D IS T A N T H O R IZ O N

’ W H A T S N E A R A R E T H E D E A D L Y W A T E R S …

“ BHANGAN”

H A P P E N IN G

C A P TU R E D

O N

TA P E

KNOWING IS NOT ENOUGH; WE MUST APPLY.WILLING IS NOT ENOUGH; WE MUST DO.

H E R E IS W H A T YO U C A N D O A S A N

. .IN D IV ID U A L• Stand up for the rights of these children • Write letters, draft petitions, engage in

discussions and dialogues. Every little thing YOU do, will make a difference……

• Initiate , Innovate and bring about a change

• For further details please contact:nshmcry@gmail.com

Henna Ghai 9836478710 Mohit Agarwal 9903090305

A C K N O W L E D G E M E NT S

• GANGA BHANGAN PROTIRODH ACTION NAGARIK COMMITTEE.

• CHILD RIGHTS AND YOU(CRY)

• NSHM