9:30 AM - 9:45 AM
[HCG28-02] Water: The Major Driver for Livelihood in Indian Sundarban Delta
Keywords:Water, Livelihood, Indian Sundarban
The estuarine islands within Indian Sundarban Delta are extremely vulnerable due to the changing climate, sudden shocks of cyclone & storm surge, prolonged erosion and regular inundation creates salinization and of course with increasing population. Around 4.6 million people living within the 19 blocks of Sundarban notified area are under constant threat of several events, affecting their traditional resource based economy and dependency on forest resources for their livelihood. Through time, this delta has been traditionally considered as a human centric terrestrial system in view of the developmental perspective. This diagnostic overview is instigating a paradigm shift towards considering this ecosystem as an aquatic system. Water within this delta, either excess or shortage, or, in terms of quality or quantity, is responsible to support or destroy the morphology, nature of water usage, and the profession of the people like agriculture, fishing etc. actually influence the livelihood of the people. Also, absence of implementable effective adaptation plan and disaster risk reduction mechanism is leading towards failed adaptation, loss in livelihood practices and tends to seasonal migration.