: As climate change worsens cyclones in the Sundarbans, experts debate ways to build resilience #IndiaNEWS Cyclone Yaas slammed into the northern coast of the Bay of Bengal at the same time as the high

As climate change worsens cyclones in the Sundarbans, experts debate ways to build resilience #IndiaNEWS
Cyclone Yaas slammed into the northern coast of the Bay of Bengal at the same time as the high tide on May 26. It made landfall at the border of Odisha and West Bengal. But about 200 km further east, in the low lying areas of the Sundarbans, the waves breached embankments at about 200 places. Saltwater ruined farms and freshwater ponds, apart from flattening mud huts. Now the demand for stronger all-concrete embankments to protect residents has resurfaced. The demand was first raised in 2009 after cyclone Aila had damaged or destroyed nearly a quarter of the 3,500 km of mud-based embankments in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest that straddles India and Bangladesh. Around 45 lakh people live in the Indian part of the Sundarbans, mostly in islands that dot the Ganga delta. Embankments are their only protection against saltwater engulfing their farms, ponds and homes every high tide.Vulnerable coastCyclones have been common in the Bay of Bengal for centuries, but they are getting more severe because the sea surface is now warmer, leading to more evaporation and stronger winds. A recent World Bank report pointed out that the long-term trend of cyclone landfalls, between 1877 and 2016, shows northern Odisha and the Sundarbans...Read more

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