The island of India where they voted for the last time as they are about to disappear – 19/05/2019

The inhabitants of Ghoramara fear that the this Sunday is his last vote in an Indian election before his island disappears underwater of the Bay of Bengal, victim of climate change.

About 4000 peopleamong which the humble fisherman Goranga Dolui are called to vote in this island of the Sundarbans delta.

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"Those who could, they left. How are the poor going like me? We hope the government will help us start a new life, "he said.

Ghoramara now has about four square kilometers after losing half of its surface over the past three decades due to flooding of the waters.

Voters in Ghoramara may be important in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aspiration for a second term. His party, Bharatiya Janata, has waged an intense campaign in the state of West Bengal and the result in this constituency is highly controversial.

But Dolui is pessimistic and does not believe that his vote or the May 23 results will change the future of this island connected to mainland India solely through a ferry that takes an hour to make the trip.

"We will continue to live until we can no longer", he explained.

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Swati Bandopadhyay, Ghoramara Election Officer, said thatThe island will disappear in two or three years as erosion accelerates with each monsoon season.

"People know that this natural process does not stop and they move gradually," said the manager.

Thousands of Ghoramara's neighbors have been living in recent years in Sagar, a larger island in the delta, or in Kakdwip, already on the mainland. But several islands surrounding it are also in danger.

Modi organized one of his mega rallies in West Bengal last week and he talked about security. The environment, however, has not been part of his dialectical battle with opposition leader Rahul Gandhi.

Election programs they barely mentioned the melting of the glaciers of the Himalayas, which translates to more water in the Bay of Bengal, or the pollution of coal mines, or the loss of forests.

We did not talk about New Delhi and 13 other Indian cities are among the 15 most polluted cities in the world.

"The two big parties have put aside the environmental talks in the campaign," said Aarti Khosla, director of Climate trends (Climate Trends), a New Delhi-based initiative that fights climate change and clean energy.

"While people around the world are becoming aware of environmental issues, they are obviously not doing so in India."

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A retired teacher, Satish Chandra Jana, 75, has spent his entire life in Ghoramara, but he is discouraged.

"We are fighting to live here and we have even built a house in Kakdwip," he said, sitting in the deserted village square.

"I do not want to leave this place, my heart and the story of my life are related to this island"Jana added.

The younger generation can not afford to be as nostalgic as Jana.

Ghoramara is not connected to the Indian network and depends on solar energy for its operation.

The disappearance of farmland takes jobs.

Tapas Kumar Sasmal, 50, a retired soldier born in Ghoramara and returned to vote, said the following: only 10% of the original inhabitants remain.

Many of those who lost their land are now day laborers on the mainland. "Life is hard," he explained.

"Some officials say the island will be gone in the next election, and I think it could happen tomorrow because we are at the mercy of natural disasters," said Sasmal.

"Everyone wants a safe life," said 41-year-old Khushbano Bibi, who was busy cleaning poultry food outside his small cubicle. "We are constantly concerned about the arrival of the sea."

"If the government helps, we will act," she said, while saying that she was not convinced that anyone in power was listening.

AFP Agency.

GML