Living On The Edge In Ghoramara Island

KOLKATA: Editor’s note: Ghoramara Island is just 150 km south of Kolkata. It lies within the Bay of Bengal in the Sundarban area. In the last 50 years, half of the island’s landmass has been submerged. The photographer, Tanmoy Bhaduri, wanted to find out how climate change is impacting the people of this island. “There are only three ferry services in a day. There was no electricity there, and mobile signal was extremely weak even on the shore. I decided to walk through the dam and take photographs of the island and the people in it. People have to cross Muriganga river which is a side stream of Ganges and conects the island to nearest harbour Kakdwip. There are neither any hospitals nor any doctors in Ghoramara island. They have to travel about two hours to reach the Kakdwip hospital to avail medical assistance. I spoke to several people on the island and heard their stories,” Bhaduri says.

“Lohachara is a ‘former’ island near Ghoramara. It now lies under the water. People fleeing from villages from both these islands often go to the nearby Sagar Island. Here, there are makeshift accommodations for them built by the state government of West Bengal. Many men migrate from Ghoramara in search of work. According to data collected for elections, there are 3000 people on the island officially.”

About two-thirds of the people of this island have already fled.

In a few years from now, Ghoramara island will not remain. Photographer Bhaduri captures life in the island, for posterity. (Copyright: Tanmoy Bhaduri).

(Tanmoy Bhaduri is a freelance news and documentary photographer based in Kolkata).