Indian women displaced by climate change 'abandoned' as men migrate to find work

Families in Bagapatia resettlement colony unable to make ends meet, forcing husbands, brothers and sons to move south

Sameer Sahani and his wife in their thatched house in the Bagapatia resettlement colony in Odisha state. Mr Sahani, who had 20 acres of farmland in Satabhaya, had to learn new skills after his entire village was flooded by seawater. All photos: Taniya Dutta / The National

More than 577 families have been shifted to the colony, a 100-acre marshy land earlier used for prawn farming

Each family was given about 400 square metres of land

Mr Sahani’s father at their thatched house

The destruction caused by climate change has forced men to seek work in other states to take care of their families

The women depend on the income of their husbands as there is no scope for farming or fishing

They often have to take up menial jobs such as cutting grass to make ends meet

The colony has a school for children with a library and lab. Pupils are taught the effects of climate change and the importance of a greener environment

Women in the colony take care of the household chores and look after ailing in-laws and young children

Mr Sahani’s wife looks after his mother, who suffered a stroke. The family does not have enough resources to keep her in a hospital

Kajol Moni Das, in her late 60s, and her family of 15 live in a four-room house. The family took a loan to build the house and are saddled with 1.5 million rupees ($18,000) in debt

Manjulata Bijourli, in her 60s, lives with her husband in a thatched house in the colony. Her two young sons work in neighbouring Kerala state

Manjulata Bijourli, in her 60s, has a tiny garden behind her kitchen at her home in the colony

Many of the families have not been able to erect a concrete house due to insufficient funds

Prasanna Parida, the head of the colony, says that as many as 200 men above the age of 22 from the colony are working outside the state

The women in the colony feel lonely and overburdened

Hundreds of women in the colony live without men – husbands, brothers and sons

At India's first resettlement colony for people displaced by climate change, women make up the vast majority of the population. The men in their families – husbands, brothers and sons – have all been forced to migrate to other states in search of work.

Manjulata Bijourli moved to Bagapatia with her family after rising sea levels led her quaint village to be submerged. While her husband remains at the colony, their two sons have moved away to find work.

“It is very painful to live without them,” Ms Bijourli told The National.

“They left one after another to work in other states. They work hard so that we can survive. Our lives have changed after our house was broken by the sea. We live in penury,” she said

For decades, about 577 families lived in Satabhaya, a cluster of seven villages on the 17km stretch on the Bay of Bengal. But after a cyclonic storm in 1999, the villages started experiencing rapid erosion of the shore.

In the last two decades, the rising seawater has advanced more than 1km and swallowed all but one of the villages. The erosion has wiped out more than 1,000 homes and large tracts of agricultural land.

The devastation was such that villagers, including Ms Bijourli, feared losing their lives.

In 2016, after repeated pleas from villagers, the government set up the country’s first colony for climate change victims in Bagapatia, 10km from the sea.

One hundred acres of marshland, previously used for prawn farming, was converted, and each family was given about 400 square metres of land and 150,000 rupees ($1,800) to build a house.

Despite the government aid, most of the families in the colony have not been able to afford to build concrete houses.

They have built brick walls and thatched roofs, but almost all of the houses are unfinished. The floors are plastered with clay and there is no direct water supply.

The marshland is unsuitable for agriculture, although a kitchen garden covers more than half of the land, where certain vegetables can be grown.

“Earlier we ate fresh fish and crabs. We had trees and plants. Now we have to buy everything – gas cylinders for cooking, fish, vegetables,” Ms Bijourli said.

“All the men in the village are gone. My neighbours’ sons are also there. There are no young men to look after us here,” she said.

Most families in Satabhaya were involved in agriculture and fishing. They also collected honey and reared cattle. But since the forced relocation, they have lost their traditional livelihoods.

To make ends meet, the men migrate to the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where they mostly work as labourers in plywood factories.

As many as 200 men over 22 from the colony are working outside the state, Prasanna Parida, the head of the colony, told The National.

Only young boys and old men are left, except for a few men who work for government institutions such as schools or local councils.

“We have no men here. The men from our community had never stepped out of the village earlier. However, after resettlement, there is not enough land for farming and the nearby river comes under a wildlife reserve, so fishing is not possible. They have to look for alternative work,” he said.

Kajol Moni Das lives with her husband, Mahadev Das, their three daughters-in-law and six grandchildren in a four-room house. Her four sons work in Kerala.

The family of 15 lived in a big mud house and owned farmland. But they had to take a loan to build the house and are now left with debts of 1.5 million rupees.

“We took a debt to build extra rooms so we all can fit here. We are yet to recover from the loan. And then the cost of living is an added burden,” she said.

“My sons work very hard. They send us 8,000 rupees every month. They send us money so we can eat rice. We do not like it but what else can we do?”

The emotional toll of losing their ancestral homes and then living without family is equally painful for the men.

For decades, the men in Satabhaya were traditionally fishermen or farmers. But relocation meant they had to look for other means of employment and learn new skills, Sameer Sahani said. He came home after six months for holidays.

Mr Sahani, 32, moved to the colony six years ago with his parents, wife, and two sons after his 20-acre farm was flooded with salt water.

“I was very happy in Satabhaya. We lived in isolation. The village was in the middle of the jungle. Even if we did not eat, we were happy. I miss that life. I enjoyed fishing.”

“The sea gradually moved towards the house. It was 3km or 4km away. The salt got inside the farms. The seawater destroyed our lives. Now, I have to work as a labourer. I do not like it but our life is not the same any more,” he said.

The forced separation also takes a toll on the women's mental health, who have to look after their old, ailing in-laws and young children alone.

“I take care of my mother-in-law alone. She suffered from a brain stroke and is immobile. My father-in-law is too old and frail and then I have to look after the needs of the children, their food, education. And there is always a lingering concern for his health, what he eats, how he is living. It gets exhausting. I miss my husband and feel alone at times,” Mr Sahani's wife, Sumathee, said.