Climate change refugees take refuge in Sunderbans

GLOBAL WARMING REFUGEES: As the sea levels rise, the people of Sagar are already victims of climate change.

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Sunderbans: You have heard of slums and resettlement colonies but this is the first of its kind. It's a colony of climate change refugees who came to the Sunderbans from Ghoramara island.

As the sea levels rise, these people are already victims of climate change.

The Nobel Prize winning Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that extreme weather, along with just a 45 cm rise in sea level would submerge 75 per cent of the Sunderbans.

School children gathered at Sagar Island to voice their protest against climate change. For them global warming is not a text-book term. It's a daily reality.

"The water levels are rising. Sagar island is sinking and there is terror everywhere," says a school girl.

And they are not the only ones who are worried. Experts like Dr Hazra feel resettlement colonies are not the long-term answer. He is mobilising people in the area to plant mangroves, which are salt-resistant and perhaps the only natural defence against the rising waters.

"Developed nations have to realise they must cut carbon emissions. It's the people of Sunderbans who are paying the price for no reason," says Dr Hazra.

But while the rest of the world continues to lag behind, this may be too little to save the Sunderbans. If you have ever doubted global warming, Sagar Island is a place on earth is you need to visit.