Climate Witness stories

Climate Witness: Jalaluddin Saha, Sagar Island, Sundarbans

I am Jalaluddin Saha. I was born and raised on Sagar Island, the largest and westernmost in the Sundarbans, India. I have been a school teacher since 1971 on Mousuni Island east of Sagar Island, and also farm a small plot of land.

Homes destroyed a land slips away
In 1975, I built a house on the western fringes of Mousuni Island. My ten neighbours and I were protected by a seven metre high earthen embankment. My house was about 10 metres inland from the embankment.

Gradually soil slipped away from below the trees along the outer side of the embankment and eventually the remaining trees were washed away around 1985 and the embankment started to erode. In 1992, the earthen embankment gave away and about 100 of us lost our homes and land.

Since 1985, we have raised the height of the embankment but tidal waters keep rising. By 2005, we have raised the height of the embankment five times to 17 metres and it collapsed again in 2005, displacing 60 families. Either our island is sinking or the sea is rising.

The impact on agriculture
In 2005, I built another house about a kilometre and half inland from where my first house stood. I bought two hectares of land but now have only a little over one hectare. We are not only losing land but also agricultural productivity due to frequent salt water incursion which has affected five square kilometres of our land since 1969.

Watermelons used to be a very popular cash crop until about ten years back. Hailstorms started to come earlier and began to coincide with watermelon harvesting period causing extensive damage. I have also noticed a shift in paddy planting season, it is now two months later which squeezes out whatever little scope was there for a third crop.

I do not think I will have to build another house due to the embankment moving further inland but would not be surprised if my sons and grandsons are forced to move again.