It is all happening because of you

We joined a group of relief providers and set off for an unknown destination deep within the Sunderbans in end June, over a month after Aila struck the area and paralysed life for numerous villages and communities in the Sunderbans. We contributed some money towards the cause, and wanted to be caring enough to ensure that the foodstuff reaches the people that need it. But we were then thinking of a one-time support.

It all changed when we reached the destination where these villagers lived. We saw the condition of Chargheri & other southern villages of Satjelia. Each of the then-unformed PAKT group showed vocal / silent support to continuing the effort to supply basic food assistance to these severely affected people. To give them something to fill their bellies after their livelihood was put on hold for 2 years, and ALSO to show them a ray of hope, "to reassure them that not everyone beyond that floating horizon of the tidal waters has forgotten about them" (as we put it in our first blogpost).

We went to you with an extended plan to support these people for next few months with food relief. The basic plan was to pick up a social unit of people and supply them with bare minimal nutrition for the next months, at least till Sep'09. All of us subsequently speculated on the specific locations to lend our services to, and agreed that the devastated families of Chargheri & other four villlages (Santigachhi, Bidhan Colony, Lahiripur, Porosmoni) were as much deserving of assistance as people of other Aila-devastated areas in the Sunderbans. Then we discussed the number of people we had to support as a social unit and the quantity of rice per head that we could supply on an extended basis (was it too less to have any meaning?). We formed PAKT and re-visited the original speculative head count and rice quantity against the funds that we practically expected from within the group (PAKT) and their well-wishers - all of you - based on personal commitments and responses.

When we found that the funds were falling short of the target, we re-appealed to all of you and you responded by further replenishing PAKT funds so that commitment to supply food till Sep '09 could be met. We also asked you to join us and help us serve these people, and again got positive responses from you.

We needed to make our distribution system robust and organised, eliminating chances of deserving candidates losing out to strongmen who nudge the weaker folk out of the queue to grab more relief. Purbasha, a local eco-tourism group, offered some manpower assitance during our visits and also helped us collect local information. Thanks to Kaustuv's planning (and insistence) we implemented an extremely successful, uniquely numbered card based system for the families we identified as being 'covered' by PAKT.

Subsequently when we found that these people were going to have to fend for themselves after September, we went to them and asked them what they felt is the way forward. We did not think continuing with relief or extending it beyond September '09 as the right way forward. Fortunately, that was also the feedback we got from a lot of the locals. They wanted to start doing something for themselves.

We tried to build on that good spirit and willingness shown by the local people towards rehabilitating themselves. We found support from two NGO's, PRISM and Swanirvar, in arranging for the most effective self-rehabilitation that we think is possible for a multitude of farmers struggling with salined lands. After some preliminary background work, PAKT have arranged to train the local farmers in a manner so that they can grow their own vegetables come this winter. That will help these farming families to sustain themselves as well as to certainly reduce their expenses on expensive vegetables bought from market. The farmers will also have to take additional responsibilities and share their newly gained alternative crop related knowledge with other farmers in their villages who could not be accomodated in the external training.

We have also placed 4 needy local people at some hotels around West Bengal for jobs. More jobs are possible if more locals show their willlingness to move out.

The people of Chargheri and the other 4 villages still need to be supported before we can stand back and say that "they are rehabilitating themselves". The crop training (3rd phase) for another 25 odd farmers begins tomorrow. We then plan to distribute relevant seeds to ALL farmers (farmers with formal training as also farmers getting "second hand" training from formally trained farmers) before mid October so that the vegetable crop can be sown at the right time.

We are trying to look for more self employment options for these people in the field of cottage industry products. Exploring training of locals (especialy women) in those directions is certainly not far from our minds but choosing the right local skill is of paramount importance for making the products saleable in the market.

We plan to distribute blankets for these families ahead of the winter.

Tomorrow (19th Sep '09) is going to be our 8th trip to the location where PAKT have been distributing rice at Sunderbans since end of June '09. This is planned to be the last visit where PAKT provide food materials to the local people. We have been declaring this intended closure of relief on 19-Sep-09 over the past 3 visits to the recipients so that it does not come as a shock to them. We have also seen enough enthusiasm amongst locals with the alternative crop training program to believe that they (the local farmer community) see a lifeline in it, that they are willing to cultivate their new techniques on whatever land they can find untouched by stagnated brackish water. The relief had to come to an end, and they are accepting it as a reality at the right time.

While PAKT will continue visiting the area for other rehabilitation efforts mentioned above, the food relief part of Help Suderbans Initiative ends tomorrow. When we distribute rice for the last time at Chargheri in about 13-14 hours from now, we hope to get a further confirmation that the people in general are taking this closure without bitterness, and that they are already looking beyond waiting at queues with cards in hand to witness sacks of rice being stacked under a PAKT banner every fortnight. This sustenance of hope at the end of relief phase is what these people will desperately need to keep themselves afloat in their coming 12-15 months of struggle. Relief will now have to be replaced by self-belief, for which PAKT has been trying to arm them with knowledge to tackle their present state.

We needed a lot of funds to pull off the food relief phase. All of this has happened because of YOU. No words are apt enough to express our gratitude...or its magnitude, nor do we feel any pressing need of that being qualified or quantified. It is festival season here in West Bengal, and may your support / blessings / assistance / prayers / words of encouragement / love be as much with us as with the people we are all committed to continue supporting on their path to rehabilitating themselves.

PS: We may still come back to you for some more help for support of the rehabilitation process. We expect to have proved worthy of your trust so far, and hence we will not hesitate to ask for your (further) help if and when it is needed.

An eventful journey on the 7th trip

The journey from Sonakhali to Chargheri during 7th visit (05-Sep-09) was somewhat more eventful than other weeks.

We woke up early in the morning to find that the overnight wind and rain still continued into the dawn. We started a little late. On the way to Sonakhali, Sandeepan got a met office forecast that there will be a cyclone. We looked at each other for a while. None of us is a regular at river travel, especially in areas that are so severely exposed to tropical storms. We second-guessed the wisdom of making the trip with a cyclone alert in the backdrop. However all of us knew fully well that people will be waiting for our food materials at Chargheri as we have promised to come this week. Besides, the crop training was scheduled to start from this visit.

Over the preceding weeks we had to put in some effort in making this training happen. All of us in PAKT saw the importance of this training to the locals who are largely farmers. Since the time he learnt of this idea, Sandeepan in particular had put in relentless effort towards this training program. An earlier attempt to get this effort started had to be cancelled because the trainers were done in by vehicle problems on their way to Sonakhali. Trainers, thus, could not make that earlier trip. This time we were determined to start the crop training program. It was too important a program to get delayed any further. We decided on going ahead and travelling to Chargheri.

We started the journey from Sonakhali at around 11 AM. Some videos of that journey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHSESLAHqV4

[This video shows the windy conditions prevailing during most of our river journey to Satjelia on 5th Sep 2009]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL_FGen-7gQ

[The wind and rain lashed us to wetness on the top deck of the boat. Kaustuv and Sandeepan were better served by their rain jackets.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu0CXg0KO38

[The usual practice of picking up Sumo driver from Gosaba. We started from Sonakhali where we buy the rice. Mahender took the Sumo to Gadkhali and crossed the ferry to Gosaba, where we pick him up.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCj_GF5leE0

[A bird soared along with the boat for a stretch near Chargheri, as if to wish us good luck]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVoYp_c98mg

[Soon the well wishing bird near Chargheri was joined by a companion. They said hi to us and then went their way.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glYl5EeCz7I

[Since the water was already receding, our boat was anchored at a distance from the banks. The remaining distance was covered on the now-familiar small boat. We also carried some bags of rice and kochu (Arum) with us as also the soya packs, so that initial distribution could be promptly started even as the material gets unloaded from the main boat.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIRIHlV1vfA

[Another common sight on our visits: A video of the small boat being dragged from the river over the mud to the distribution point. As I said in an earlier blog post, the slippery mud (which poses a serious accident risk to all who walk on the dyke paths) is a boon for this activity.]

The return journey had a little twist a well. It was dark and we were yet to start our return journey when we learnt that the cyclone warning was now a TV news. Upon return to the boat, we learned that the boat hull had been punctured at the bottom by a blow from the anchor spikes during lifting operation. Some repair work had thankfully been done to 'cover' the return journey.

Midway through the 3 hour journey we realised that water still kept seeping in though the repair work. We checked it out. Thankfully the rate on seepage was evidently too low to raise an alarm. Also, the boatmen were attentive to that . They kept throwing out accumulated water from the boat hull manually from time to time.

The good wishes from the two birds on Ganral river near Chargheri were desperately needed on our way back as well.

7th Trip in pictures

Reaching Chargheri Primary school for initiation of alternative crop training program

Inaugural session of 3-day alternative crop training program for local farmers, starting 05-Sep-09

Local farmers interacting with the trainers during the inaugural session

Chargheri Abaitanik Prathomik Bidyalaya: the venue of inaugural training program for local farmers on alternative crop production

The still pictures from 7th trip (including food distribution camp and crop training) can be found in the following Picasa albums:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseVII#

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip7Pix#

SEVENTH TRIP COMPLETED

A landmark trip for us. We could finally start our rehabilitation initiatives. The initiative was kicked off with the training program on alternative crop production by the trainers from the NGO SWANIRBHAR, and the inaugural program was scheduled with our visit. This was practically the main reason for which we decided to proceed to Chargheri on 5th, despite heavy shower and cyclone warnings and met the cyclone on the way.
Two trainers (Mr Narayan Bachar and Mrs Anjana Mandal) from SWANIRBHAR, accompanied us for the first phase of training. With help from Purbasha volunteers we could identify 50 trainees beforehand. Many of the farmers from far away villages and could not come due to the abominable condition of paths (if we can call them even paths) connecting villages during heavily rainy days like it was on 5th September but attendance is expected to increase in the following 2 days. The trainers met them in the primary school building of Chargheri and started the first phase of training program for 5th to 7th. They will discuss in detail the available practical options on growing vegetables in lands “poisoned” by saline water and guide the farmers to implement those options.
It is doubtful if the other part of the training, the practical hands-on training in fields, will be possible in this phase due to inclement weather. The condition of fields after these 2 days of rain may not help either. However following the initial interactions and positive responses from the local farmers, the trainers are confident that they can still be given enough training in the first phase for them to make a start and for them to spread the word around in their respective villages on the techniques to be adopted and crops to be selected.

Food Distribution
The food distribution was not easy this time. We have to take a smaller team (six only) to accommodate the trainers. Purnendu, a friend of Debajyoti-da joined us for the first time. The river was full of waves and from the mid river (where the boat anchored), the PAKT team has a tough time to move to the distribution point on land. The volunteers of Purbasha also had a much harder task in downloading and taking the rice and arum (kachu) sacks from our boat over the sticky and slippery mud. Braving sudden spells of torrential rains, almost 2100 persons came to the distribution point. With great help from Mahendra (he drives our car almost every time and join us for Chargheri instead of waiting in the car) and Purnendu, we could distribute almost 2100 kg of rice along with kachu and soya nuggets very quickly. We continued in dark till the last person in the line is served. The only source of light for verifying the cards was the torch lights held patiently by the volunteers of Purbasha. What is left (around 700 kgs of rice) will be distributed in the next few days by volunteers of Pusbasha.

Rehabilitation Program
At the starting of the distribution, like the earlier weeks we again informed the people that the relief stage involving food distribution will be over by 19th September and we will move into next stage – rehabilitation. Biswajit-da, our seniormost team member from Khelaghar, has already arranged for unskilled jobs for five local youths in the hotel industry. With not many opportunities available for alternative occupation in the village, it will be a good opening for them. Biswajit-da is trying hard to place another 10-15 people in similar jobs. With the agricultural training started, we hope to provide some restoration of the agricultural livelihood. As advised by Nilangshu, the key person from SWANIRBHAR, who responded to our request for arranging the training; the seeds will be distributed to the farmers by mid October. PAKT has already committed to bear all expenses for training and distribution of seeds.

PAKT Banner
So far we have not used any banner of PAKT. We did not feel it is necessary. But since our last visit we found that quite a few members of our extended team (everyone who supports the initiative), who could not accompany us, is getting confused that all things are distributed with a banner of PURBASHA in the background. So to clear the confusion, we just put up a simple banner during this trip.

Problems
Our main concerns still remain
i) Getting water out from the low lying agricultural lands. We know we cannot do it, but some initiative from irrigation department will be very helpful and we can motivate the villagers to carry forward any good suggestion in this regard. In the very least the backflow of salined water from these main rain water harvesting canals to the farmlands & ponds needs to be immediately arrested. If we can achieve at least that miraculously in the coming few weeks, the farmers have an outside chance of emptying their ponds and holding some water from any October rain to bring up their crop in the coming winter. The emptying of main canals can then be carried out in coming months.
ii) Proper restoration of the embankment. On our way to Chrgheri this time we observed that in some locations, the newly formed embankment showed signs of breach. Chargheri is still surviving, but not sure how long it can hold on
iii) Mobilising the government fund for restoration of houses. This is also something we could not help directly, but believe something needs to be done
We appeal to the people of extended PAKT Team and our well wishers to help these cause

Exploring Chargheri and Bidhan Colony

In most of our earlier visits we barely found time to distribute the food and rush back for the return journey. This time Debajyoti da and myself snatched ourselves out of the distribution and tried to carry out a survey to assess some of the ground realities as on date.

This exercise took us to some new localities in Chargheri and Bidhan Colony. Sharing with you some snaps and videos of these places (links in red):

People working on earthwork for the bund
These people are cutting earth from the spoiled agricultural lands to build up / repair the bunds. I hope that is advisable to be done on agricultural land, and does not damage long term prospects of the productivity of this .

Hopefully we will see them cultivating alternative crops on these fields this coming winter after due training. Certainly the normal crop, rice, is set to return within 2 years. Now does this earth cutting from surface of these fields hurt any or both of those prospects? I wish I knew...

A shot of Chargheri on our way to Kakmari Bazar
[not much to add to that snap - we have earlier published a number of pix like that one]

House damaged by Aila but saved from collapse due to presence of 'konchi' (bamboo) reinforcement in mud walls
We found only two "pucca" buildings on the route from distribution point to Kakmari bazar which was close to 2 km away from distribution point (We made this journey via an unpaved and undulating dyke where walking barefoot can cause foot pain to unaccustomed feet - ask me!). None of these were residential houses. We saw evidence that water had reached above window top level in many of the intact houses. The houses that had bamboo stick (‘konchi’) reinforcement in walls managed to keep standing (even after mud was washed away) via support from the bamboo sticks. This house (in above pic) with ‘reinforced walls’ told the story clearly: in the picture we can see that the ‘konchi’s are showing up to man height with no mud around them – and ABOVE it the konchi’s are disappearing into mud still left intact.

Some of the standing houses have been repaired back with thatched roof and applying mud back on the walls. The houses that had walls of pure mud are all erased.

"Aise ujde aashiyaane tinke ud gaye"
This is how some of the occupants of those erased houses are living now.
They are literally living on the road....

The boundary point of Chargheri and Bidhan Colony
[hope that fishing net used as a fence is not the administration's brainchild while marking the boundary...]

The primary school located OUTSIDE the old bund

The old bund near this school was seriously damaged but the school would have been inundated in Aila even if the bund were intact. This primary school in Bidhan Colony is strangely outside of the main bund / dyke and it is at quite a low level as well. In other words, it was always exposed to forces of nature and tidal variations as the bund does NOT protect it.

This omission of a government primary school outside bund premise may look like a surprising flaw in layout of the bund, but we need to remember that pieces of land keep surfacing in these areas every year due to silting. It is quite possible that this school is located in a land area that surfaced AFTER construction of bund. It can (un)safely be expected that there are many such areas across these region. Hopefully the new 'Ring bund', currently under construction, will bring these buildings within the ambit of safety.

The new "Ring Bund" under construction
[This picture is taken facing the river and the old bund is behind the photographer Debu da when this picture was taken. We can see the primary school being covered by this new ring bund.
This video, shot from atop the old bund, shows the above photograph being taken and also indicates the topography near the school]

Bund damage near Kakmari bazar southside approach
[The above video, along with this snap by Debu da, bears testimony of the magnitude of nature's fury faced by these bunds on 25th May 2009. Even after nearly 3 months of restoration work the bund still looks like having been hit by a disaster in very recent past. ]


Kakmari bazar
PAKT discussing with people at Kakmari bazar
Kakmari bazar video 1
Kakmari bazar video 2

On the return journey from Kakmari to distribution point, we met Shri Girindranath Paik and Shri Ajit Kumar Biswas. Both are from Chargheri.

Girindranath Paik is a familiar face at relief distribution (he generally has something to say or some request to make). We met him on the way back and he dragged me to his house. Apparently the water logged lands seen behind the hutments in this snap are land belong to him.

Ajit Kumar Biswas' story is a little intriguing. Ajit is apparently a graduate who has not managed to get a coveted government job. He has a small piece of land and used to cultivate it before Aila. But the returns from his small piece of land were insufficent to support his young . He used to supplement his income by giving tuitions. Even Rabindranath Gayen, the respected primary school teacher of Bidhan Colony that we met during survey at Kakmari bazar, used to be his student. He is apparently well liked by people (certainly by Girindranath Paik) and also does some book keeping for shops. He wished to opt out of the area if he gets a job outside, as both his vocations have stopped now. He stays in a makeshift hutment reconstructed from his damaged mudhut. Like many other families, both he and his wife do menial labour on earthwork related to bund repair these days in order to sustain themselves.

Ajit brought me up to the fact that the dewatering of fields has taken place only at specific areasm lostly near the periphery of the island (we used to see it happen at our distribution point) but many fields in the interiors are still flooded with brackish water. The small sluice gate does not help at all as it prevents effective flushing out of the brackish water in a heavy rainfall.

Critical concern: We have requested assistance from PRISM in order to arrange for alternative crop training in fields damaged by brackish water with an aim to have some vegetables grown on these fields by this winter. We are driving to expedite this training. But the least that is required for some of these farmers we are trying to help is the stagnated brackish water to be removed from their fields. We are talking to people related to administration but we still do not know how to solve that critical first part (i.e. dewatering agricultural lands that are still under water) in our attempt to get these people back on fields.

6th Trip to Chargheri: In pictures and videos

Links to pictures and videos are provided in chronological order:

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip6PixCellcam#5375446011467016354
[A tentative route sketch of our journey from Sonakhali to Chargheri, also indicating the major landmarks along the route - satellite pic courtesy google maps]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpzl9mLQfyA
[Video: A view of the dyke at Sonakhali 'ghat', and approach to the 'ghat']

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip6PixCellcam#5374731255912742002
[Stillpic: Our boat is seen here leaving the Sonakhali ghat after getting loaded with 480 kg of 'kochu' (arum) and 2800 kg rice. We had also taken 150 packets containing 100 gms of soyabean each, meant for each family with a child less than six years. Kaustuv and I stay back at Sonakhali to guide Bappa, the new Sumo driver of this trip, to Gadkhali where the Sumo will be parked.]

Anecdote: Qutub, the boatman, left his assistants to take care the boat and took the trip to Gadkhali with us in the car. I found him closely watching Bappa operating the gears of our Tata Sumo. When I enquired if he (Qutub) wished to learn driving a car by visual inspection, Kaustuv observed that operating a boat had criticalities like knowing exactly about the size of the whole thing and where the tail was going, especially while bringing to the shore. This was enough to open up Qutub, who declared that he could learn driving a car in 2 weeks. We nodded, politely noting that the hard part was to do it at places like Kolkata's Esplanade or Lalbazar at 11 am on a weekday.

Well versed though Qutub might be in operating a much bigger piece of mobile equipment in croc infested waters on the outskirts of tiger territory, he still does not get overtaken in narrow stretches by speeding boats simultaneously on both sides with a few millimeters as clearances....and get a few glares from the left side overtaker for not 'giving way'! Nor is Qutub used to seeing a guy suddenly put a hand up towards him (meaning "please halt"....make it "halt") and nonchalantly cross his path assuming the driver will be able to halt irrespective of speed.

Bappa did not respond to Qutub's comment, but all along the boat trip to Chargheri he too kept watching the operational aspects of Qutub's boat right up to Chargheri. Perhaps he too was finding out a way to learn boating in 15 days...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alyuKWRaSpg
[Video: Approach to the Gadkhali ferry ghat, and a glimpse of the high tide water level]

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip6PixCellcam#5374731285262063410
[Stillpic: hightide at Gadkhali]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5uQ5gKtu1c
[Video: Boat reaches Gadkhali to pick up Kaustuv and myself. It takes 20-25 minutes from Sonakhali to Gadkhali by road but the boat takes close to an hour]

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseVI#5373605670229477010
[Stillpic: Dr. Susanta Bhattacharya, also called Santo da, seen here at the top deck of the boat near the sacks of arum]

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseVI#5373605733636553906
[Stillpic: 2800 kg of rice loaded in our boat.
Disclaimer: the stamp of 'Pather Katha - ATMA - Khelaghar' was included in the soft file - the sack really did not have that stamp, but it is a nice illusion!!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppmq-5As-W4
[Video: Captain Qutub gets off the boat, letting his assistants complete the balance 85% of the trip!]

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip6PixCellcam#5374731347832181714 [Stillpic: Purbasha carrying out the rice unloading operation, as is the usual practice on every visit]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZiwIo5Z2-k
[Video: Sanyasi Mandal was one of the trainees to receive Unicef training on ORT solution at Dhamakhali on the 16th of August. He describes the training as 'fruitful' here. Unfortunately the supply of solution from Unicef is yet to materialise.]

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseVI#5373605807814162738
[Stillpic: This time we noticed that people arriving early had reserved their position in the queue with bags!

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip6PixCellcam#537544137897241339
[Stillpic: Rice stacked at distribution point ahead of start of distribution]

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip6PixCellcam#5374731414299539314
[Stillpic: Distribution starts, and the cards are out]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUwzkl4qV0U
[Video: Doctor (Santo da) moving to the boat in order to take stock of medicines and to flag off the medical camp]

Annoucement 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRoLTS-n01w
Annoucement 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpOC5QE2I20
Annoucement 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQBGD7Bjn7o
[Video: Kaustuv made 3 sets of annoucement with the megaphone, for which we have added links above.
Announcement 1: Kaustuv shared with the people in the queue the plans of PAKT in the coming weeks - essentially that relief will be stopped after a month;s time, and that each village needs to offer volunteers to carry forward our attempts to rehabilitate them by facilitating various trainings (e,g, training on alternative crops on saline soil, training on other alternative employent options like handicraft.)
Announcement 2: Kaustuv announces that PAKT, mainly through efforts of partner Khelaghar, will look to rehabilitate some families by placing some villagers in hotel jobs across the state.
Announcement 3: The distribution is done at 2 ends of the distribution camp. Some villages are lined up at the North end and some others at the South end. On all previous occasions we found a few cases where people had waited an hour or more at the wrong queue. Kaustuv declares the names of villages that will be covered by each queue.]

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseVI#5373606290281699698
[Stillpic: Biswajit da and Kausik (my Foster Wheeler colleague who joined the team this week) carry out card checks for the 1st point of distribution]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joDVHeoe3Gk
[Video: Distribution being carried out at 1st point of distribution through card system]

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseVI#5373606358093988210
[Stillpic: Kaustuv and Saptarshi (not in picture) carry out card checks for the 2nd point of distribution]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItNvl1T9MYQ
[Video: Distribution being carried out at 2nd point of distribution through card system]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkJNMIZhJ9s
[Video: Bappa sets his boating skill development aside and spontaneously joins in to help the distribution]

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseVI#5373606450658531298
[Stillpic: Santo da running the medical camp on Purbasha boat. His marathon sitting would go on till past 6-30 pm]

[Pics and videos related to survey carried out on 6th visit are appended to the earlier post listing subjects attempted to be covered in that survey]

6th visit: Food distribution and survey

PAKT completed the 6th trip to Chargheri last Saturday (22nd August). We distributed 1 kg of rice per head for a fortnight to the selected families of the 5 villages. We also distributed 100 gms of soyabeans to families having children aged less than six years. Like previous (5th) visit, we again provided a piece of arum (kochu) to each of these families.

In addition to distributing food during this visit, we also carried out a survey on a few pre-identified issues related to PAKT activity at Chargheri-Bidhan Colony-Santgachhi-Porosmoni-Lahiripur.

Purpose of survey:

(a) Assessing the effectiveness of our past effort at providing relief and

(b) Carrying out some ground work for the future months in which we intend to withdraw food relief but assist these people in more specific ways to get started at rehabilitating themselves, as far as our (significant) limitations permit.

The sample of people selected was not enough considering the short period (3 hours) we got to carry it out, but we believe we still get a representative assessment.

Summary of findings

The survey does not throw up any dramatic findings as such, and generally supports the expected. For last 2 visits we have been letting people know that we intend to withdraw food relief from end of September. This time we again announced the same at the distribution and also tried to spread the word individually during the survey. It was heartening to find that most people were supporting us to withdraw relief in the near future and instead assist them to get back to earning their own living if possible.

The subjects of survey and its outcomes are compiled into a detailed survey report. We are ready to share it with anyone willing to go through that detailed report.

Volunteers

Before distribution we put forward an important request to each of the 5 villages to facilitate implementing our future plans for these people: we requested that some of their villagers must now come forward and enlist themselves as volunteers for their respective villages. This is essential to provide smooth knowledge transfer via various vocational / self-employment trainings we intend to provide to people of these villages in coming months.

The volunteers are intended to be the direct link between the experts providing the training (PRISM / other NGO's / other sources) and the villagers that intend to implement this training for self-benefit, without any 3rd party bottleneck formation. [For example, we will endeavour to push and get each of these programs started the first time, but if subsequent communication keeps happening through us who visit so sporadically then we can become bottleneck instead of facilitator]

Update: The picture-cum-video story of the 6th visit is overdue. Apologies to all for inadvertent delay. We request you to check up on the snaps of 6th visit at the Picasa sites of Kaustuv and myself....while we put together something to take you to the live action of 6th trip.

Our distribution spot at Chargheri

The above top-view sketch of the distribution area at Chargheri can help provide you with a mental image of the location to you, in case you have not already visited this place with us. [Click on the image for a larger view]

Now we will try to show you the exact location of this point in the map of Sunderbans.

You may have noticed a snapshot of a map extract of Sunderbans on our main page which shows our action area in Satjelia.

Satjelia is a big island with a number of villages and village panchayats, and we cover only a part of the Lahiripur gram (village) panchayat for our distribution. A village panchayat consists of many hamlets and is generally named after one of them. Santigachi, Parashmoni and Bidhan Colony are such hamlets, as is Lahiripur itself; but the locals refer to the hamlets as 'villages' and so do we. Chargheri is actually a mouza (part of Lahiripur panchayat), consisting of a few other such hamlets.

I tried to find the distribution spot on Google maps with the help of Wikimapia and here's the best result that I could find. We have asked Dipankar for a river map that will help identify the route to Chargheri with more clarity. But we reckon that entire yellow coloured area in the link (as we see it today) is the Satjelia island. The administrative structure of the area has more than one gram panchayats. There is a Satjelia gram panchayat as well. That panchayat presumably covers the top of that island (North part). Our action area is the South eastern part of Satjelia island area, which is part of Lahiripur gram panchayat.

I took a screenshot of that area and tried to highlight the exact location where we distribute at Chargheri. As you see in that screenshot, the probable exact location is under a piece of cloud that obstructed the satellite picture!!

The river on the east (right side) of distribution point is Ganral River, the same river you see in almost all pictures of us arriving at Chargheri or departing from there.

UPDATE: This pic from the 6th trip shows the above distribution area along with the central shed as well as the 2 queues on either side [pic taken looking east from western side of temporary ditch]. We are beginning to depend a lot on Debajyoti da's pix to share information more effectively with you.

The 5th trip: in pictures and videos

Visuals are sequenced in chronological order:

1) Journey to Satjelia-Chargheri:

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765359990764562 A typical sight at Sonakhali: materials being loaded for transportation across / along the river

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrJr_uw_UJ0
Video: This is a mid-river view of the dyke repair work going on near Sonakhali.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlNCPmnXxZo
Video: Kochu (Arum) was also included for distribution on 5th trip. It is a low cost food item, with no side effects envisaged.

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765400903491234 Snapshot of 'kochu' sacks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lbKDomS7s4
Video: As usual, we took 54 bags of rice, totalling to 2700 kg (to be distributed with 200 kg stock remaining at Chargheri from previous distribution)

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765479445006578 Young Sharafat's arkwork on his papa's boat

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765620644867394 Another illustration on the same boat (surely not by Sharafat)....

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseV#5368066036532608194 On the route, we went past villages where some women were busy catching fish & prawns on the riverside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgNWOVIiNyY
Video: A patch with such dense cover of vegetation in deep water is a rare sight even in the Sunderbans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nPiY1GkAQ4
Video: The team making the 5th visit (putting faces to names)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyFP4cS9y48
Video: We kept dropping time along the way today, and arrived at Chargheri close to 3pm - more than an hour later than last time. Combined with shifting diurnal tide change time, this meant water had already receded significantly by the time we came.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNqU_auz9YE
Video: We explore the tidal entry route, and then go back into the river for an entry from the low tide muddy route. This meant significant time delay in transporting goods to distribution point
[For a contrast, view the video link of tidal entry for 4th trip Chargheri arrival at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8mpRdEENds]

2) The distribution at Chargheri

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseV#5368066315688151474 Arrival at Chargheri: A nice shot courtesy Debajyoti da. You can see the boat in the distance - it stayed there for unloading for another hour and consequently got stuck as water receded further. While returning back after distribution, we reached the boat at 7-15pm and waited on it till 8-30pm (with no ray of light except 2 battery torches) so that the tide returned and boat could float again....The far side of the river is starting point of the wilderness ruled by the Bengal Tiger

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765762180314594 Avijit feeling his way through the mud on his second visit
[video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDYm9WyWpWk]

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseV#5368066358767559314 Transporting the stuff to the distribution point is a tough affair in low tide. It was unloaded from our larger motor boat into this Purbasha boat. Then this boat had to be physically pushed through the mud to the bank.....

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseV#5368066390712696098
....and only then could the stuff get unloaded for distribution. High tide is preferable any day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseV#5368066411330359666 http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765829391073778 Felicitation: It was a little embarassing for us that they insisted in felicitating us under a shed in front of the multitude waiting under the sun for hours to collect their rightful share of bare minimum food. But in any case the materials were taking a long time to be carried from our boat to distribution point due to the low tide, and we thought the schedule of distribution could not get any further delayed by accepting the sentimental requests from the local people (mainly Purbasha) to felicitate us with garlands and sweets. It was a brief affair in any case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPu-OIYv7Ns
Video: The 2 distribution points at either end of the temporary distrubution shed. As highlighted earlier, 2 points of distribution are necessary for quicker disposal of material to the waiting people

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765998229130066 Another view of the 2 queues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5wEt_eTDrg
Video: Dipankar arranged for some microphones to communicate essentials of the distribution (2 queues, materials getting distributed, next distribution after 2 weeks etc) to the people in queue

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseV#5368066666369542226 Card based distribution for Lahiripur, Bidhan colony, Santigachi and Porosmoni

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765958943282498 This is the other point of distribution, where Santanu, Debajyoti da, Angshuman (myself) and Mahender were distributing....[note: I did not remove the garland presented to me at the felicitation by a little kid hardly a couple of years older than my daughter]

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseV#5368066747266766658 Dipankar distributing essential medicines, assisted by Debajyoti da

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseV#5368066530961034162 Ticking off the cards after handing over requisite quota of material

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765870942328242 Distribution was finally over at dusk

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765911022372226 http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765930890800322 Our turn to play rice sacks: The Chargheri volunteers load us on a boat and push us through the mud into the river where our boat is stuck on the river bed

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip5PixCellcam#5368765934413460946 Purbasha volunteers and the boatmen ask to get snapped as we board back into our boat for return journey to Gadkhali

Informative videos on Chargheri 4th trip

Please find in this post some youtube video links of the 4th Chargheri visit videos uploaded on youtube (chronologically sequenced below - links given in red font).

Many of these videos are 'annotated'. In other words, texts explaining specifics now appear in the video at relevant points, and automatic pauses have been also provided in the videos as suitable so as to let you read the information on offer. The annotation has been done with the aim of explaining the contents of these videos better, as well as to try and take the viewer close to the scene of action.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxiWYa4QAQo

(En route videos showing that high tide water level in Sunderbans area generally exceeds ground level inside the dykes)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8mpRdEENds

(Our boat is poised to enter, through a breached dyke of Chargheri, into an area that used to be agricultural land till 28th May)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiHPq66ieXQ

(Our boat sails through earstwhile Chargheri farmland that is now lost to the river due to dyke breach during Aila)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1esm5GEhTs

(View of Broken dykes)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PCx4KF2pRw

(Another video of land areas lost to the river)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inFZdsLGV6s

(Dewatering pumps on dyke)

----------------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTrQ_1L0m4Y

(Location of lowtide access to Chargheri from the river bed - now inundated due to hightide)

----------------------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYG9IEtMBTM

(New dyke under construction)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2XhDW1PJVY

(Implementation of distribution through cards)

---------------------------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hH7zCNIrXw

(Saptarshi on the job)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws2kYxcGtCI

(Interview with local old woman)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4sSoexsFJs

(Dipankar pushing injection - and apathy of some local people to cleanliness)

-----------------------------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwPuiEecni0

(Return to the boat in heavy rain - and a remote view of banks of Chargheri at dusk as we walk deep into river bed in the lowtide to get back to boat)

---------------------------

These links were already provided in the previous blog posts on 4th visit. However the annotations added to these videos over the past few days will hopefully serve to speak out on the situation at Chargheri as we see it, and on the distribution process that we have implemented. We believe you will find these video more informative after the annotations.

It will be gratifying if supporters of Sunderban cyclone relief activities (of any kind - HSI or otherwise) and other interested netizens can have a look at these videos. Request our friends to forward this post / these links to any other persons / organisations you know who may be interested in supporting cyclone affected people in Sunderbans.

Focus on next week's visit (5th trip, 8th August)

As we have shared earlier, we are intent on saving conveyance costs by cutting down on number of visits. In other words, distributing for two weeks in one visit.

In line with that, last week we had distributed rice to the people of the five villages for two weeks (i.e., 2 x 500 gms = 1 Kg/head for 2 weeks). This gives us a spare weekend, as also a fine scope to plan the details and logistics for our next visit including assessment of our fund situations.

Dipankar is likely to join us in the evening today with an updated list of families. During that meeting we plan to discuss and look into other observations and requirements that we noted down during last visit.

4th visit in Pix and Videos: part 2

Chargheri Trip 4 dated 25-07-2009, Part 2 of 2:

[The relevant picture or video is followed by the description]

...continued from part 1

13_rice_bags@dist_pt

The rice bags are stacked at distribution point, ready to be served to the people queuing up

14_books_for_good_students

The local volunteers request us to explore providing books & school dresses to the better students, as the village school is re-opening. This will need further discussion. Is it a primary need under the prevailing conditions? How many students are in a position to attend school within next few months?

16_some_teammembers

Some of the team members of PAKT who made the 4th trip to Chargheri

17_other_group_and_routing_people

This video shows the distribution point just ahead of the start of distribution. The other corporate group to arrive on the same day is seen here with our group, merging their distribution of food material into our card based issue system.

In the 2nd part of this video, the routing of queue and after distribution point is also indicated.

The card we used

This picture shows the format of the card we used (the script is in Bangla). Notice the dates indicated, which we tick during the check process. The card number (unique) and name are identifiers used during distribution. As this week’s distribution was for 2 weeks, we were ticking off 2 consecutive dates (25th July & 1st August).

18_Kaustuv_explaining_card_check

Kaustuv briefs the group on the check system for the cards ahead of the issue


19_implementing_dist_thru_cards

The process of issue of rice through the cards, including the checking, is shown in this video.


Distribution in progress

The distribution starts off slowly and then picks up pace.

The queue kept building up…

...faster than we could clear it. To complete our work before dusk, we had to open up a 2nd distribution point at the closing stages.


Lady queueing up with her card ready

We traversed the length of the queue in order to clarify to people that issue will be made against cards (which they seemed to be aware of), that they can queue up irrespective of serial numbers, that we would issue rice for 2 weeks (we will not come next week), that they need not come and stand in the sun from 10 am on the visit days as we are never going to arrive that early. A megaphone will do just fine next time for the announcement purpose!

We also told people that they should not change head count on the cards of their own even if they think the headcount needs redressal (they would not get more than what our register shows in any case). Unauthorised correction was observed in a few cards. They need to register their issue with the volunteers for address during the next time.

With more time, we expect to get in closer touch with the people, but coming from so far for an afternoon there can be only so much progress per week! This week we were already controlling the distribution entirely by ourselves, with the volunteers mainly controlling the crowd.

20_rice_filling_in_bags

Rice is getting filled into the bags of recipients during distribution


21_interview

Interviewing a local old woman


22_Saptarshi_checking_list

Saptarshi is seen here doing the card checking duties….


23_exchanging_duties

…and Saptarshi is equally adept at distributing rice at lightning speed!! He does that in his very first visit. What a guy to have in your team!

As I said, he was good at it.

Another picture of Saptarshi distributing rice.

Bag filling

Gopal and Trinath helped with the bags (need strong arms for that - some of those were filled with 7-8 kgs of rice for the entire family). Amar was checking the cards with Kaustuv and returning to the holders.


24_medicap_camp_Dipankar_tablets

Dipankar issues tablets, strips and tonics for common ailments for common ailments


25_Dipankar_injection_part1

He can also push a dose of tetvac to people having wounds and injuries (see next video)…


26_Dipankar_injection_part2

…and the recipient is seen here complaining that he did not have any pain!


I was there too

During the latter stages I was with Dipankar in the medical camp (makeshift – what else). 94 people attended the camp on the 4th visit.

Snapshot of the medical register

I tried to note down the common problems, and also the medicines that were not in stock. There were no serious problems mentioned by anyone this time. The above snapshot shows the listing of missing medicines, as well as common ailments (in my own inimitable Bengali handwriting, of course).

Many of the adults were complaining of stomach related problems. The children were mainly affected by stomach issues as well as cough / cold / fever. I asked about the water quality, but they appeared to be satisfied with the water they get from the unaffected tubewell.

27_returning_to_boat_in_downpour

When the skies opened up, we were almost through with the rice distribution. The medical camp had already served 94 people. The common ailments were noted down, and the medical stock requirements were also noted. We hope to have a doctor accompanying us sometime very soon.

Waiting for the boat to turn up from the haze of downpour

Thus ended our 4th trip to Chargheri. It was low tide again, and we waded back to the mud and the waters to go back to our boat. We were thoroughly drenched by the end of it. But we felt that this visit gave us additional confidence. Firstly that 2 weeks stuff CAN be distributed in one afternoon, and that the people are generally happy (you can’t please everyone, but we truly did not hear any serious complaints) with the process we have adopted.

We could distribute to almost all the recipients (686+ out of 721 families) in our presence. Minor grievances (like head counts in families) were also noted and can be addressed before next visit.

We are planning to improve the cards. We had issued plain papers, and some of them may already have been destroyed as the people returned home in today’s downpour. Reissuing the piece of paper is not much of a problem but repeated distribution can be a problem, leading to grievances. More on that later.

Adieu to Chargheri from the bed of River Garal

4th visit in pix & videos - PART 1

Chargheri Trip 4 dated 25-07-2009, Part 1 of 2:
[The relevant picture or video is followed by the description]

Explaining HSI to Saptarshi
The history of Help Sunderbans Initiative (HSI) till date is explained to Saptarshi

01 hightide water level outside dykes

This sight is common to almost all areas of Sunderbans during the high tide. The inhabited land inside is lower than the high tide level and protected by earthen dykes. Hundreds of kilometres of these dykes were breached by furious Aila on 25th May 2009.

02 Boat enters Changheri through breached dyke

Our boat leaves Garal River and enters Chargheri territory, into an area which used to be a farmland.



03 Area lost to river

In this video, the boat enters an estuarine part of the village that used to be a farmland before Aila happened. Now this is an extension of the river. The new dyke is getting built a few hundred metres inside the old damaged dyke.

This entry of boat through dyke and straight sailing to the distribution area is possible only during high tide. The high tide was already receding when we reached. The boat had to be unloaded quickly and navigated to deeper waters of Garal to ensure we did not get stranded till the next high tide.


04 broken dykes of Chargheri

This video shows the remnants of the old dyke of Chargheri on Garal river. It was destroyed by Aila.


05 Another video of the area lost to river

This is another video where Kaustuv shows to Saptarshi the areas outside the new dyke, of Chargheri, all of which was farmland. Saptarshi is our friend from IBM. He was visiting first time.


06 Pumps operating on new dyke

This video shows the land inside dykes being emptied by pumps operating on them. This is done with the purpose of emptying accumulated water from farmland inside the dyke. It is the first step towards getting the land back to cultivability.

This is the first step towards of landmark of desalination. Pumping is being done by the dyke repairing contractor employed by administration.


07 Destination Chargheri draws near

The boat reaches Chargheri and we alight very close to the distribution point.


8 The lowtide access of Chargheri from Garal River, inundated in high tide

The area in the video here (first 5-6 secs) becomes subnerged in the river in high tide . This is what we see here. But when the tide wanes it becomes the access path from the Garal river (see next pic).


The same area outside dyke, but in low tide

This picture from 1st trip shows the same access area in low tide



09 Unloading at Distribution point

The distribution point, and unloading rice bags from boat to stack them up there


11 People waiting near the distribution point

They are waiting for unloading to finish and issue of their allocated quota of rice.

Another boat carrying another group

A corporate group arrives on the same day through Green Camp. They distribute a few things to the locals (polythenes, lamps, a small quantity of rice, biscuits etc). They distribute the food materials under the issue system employed by us and we have no problems in accomodating them. However due to lack of prior information the distribution for their non-food materials, done independently from us, goes a little haywire in the end. The first time is always difficult in these areas, and some information, detailing and planning is required to make the distribution equitable. It is not known to us if they wish to come back regularly or it is a one time effort. We will learn later. We only hope that more groups can come, as we know that we are not supplying not even nearly the full quota needed.

12 New dyke under construction

The first thing we notice is that the dyke has grown noticeably bigger than what it was during my first visit on June 28th (see next pic)

A comparative picture of the dyke work progress

The progress of dyke work is visible in the above comparative picture, where the dyke size as on June 28th (trip 1) can be compared with the dyke size on 25th July (trip 4).

[contunued in part 2]