- Many houses along the eastern Indian coast were affected by constant sea erosion, cyclones, and other environmental factors. These houses are now abandoned by the people who live there.
- Some residents of these vulnerable areas near the Bay of Bengal voluntarily relocated as the tidal wave hit, while others were resettled and moved by the government.
- Also, inter-state migration from these coastal hotspots can be seen in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh as well as other states.
- Experts claim that the lack of a clear resettlement policy for internally displaced populations is making matters worse for these communities.
Uppada, a coastal village in East Godavari district is located 18 kilometres north from the Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh. Over the past few decades, the village has been subject to seawater ingress. Half of the village’s shoreline has no sandy beach left. As the basements of these homes are slowly getting eroded into water, high tide surges have hit the coast. Villagers claim that there are more than 100 such ‘ghost’ houses here, which were earlier inhabited but are now abandoned because of the damages.
Around 100 houses in such a situation are now at risk and could be swept away into the ocean any day. According to S. Prasad, a 40-year-old resident of Uppada, where there is a total of 20,000 people, hundreds of houses, including a school, village market, temple, and bus stand, have been destroyed by cyclones and sea erosion over the past two decades.
Kal Kishore, another villager, claimed that large numbers of the village have moved to other areas such as Naikar colony and P. Lakshmi Colony. Extreme weather conditions impacted livelihoods, and caused the displacement of people from the Uppada village, where most of the households were involved in the fishing trade.
The village suffered enormous losses. Kishore explained that it is still possible to see the houses almost set to fall into the ocean every day in the village. He explained that geotubes were added by the government in recent years to reduce the sea erosion damage to the village. It also helped to minimize the damage to coastal villages. Geotubes are artificial structures built together and placed on the coast in order to prevent sea ingress.
Geographically, Uppada is located to the north of Kakinada Port and within close proximity of rivers like Pedda or Uppeteru that drain into the Bay of Bengal. Experts often link increased sea erosion to the presence of ports and mouths at sea.
When it comes to sea erosion, Uppada isn’t the only one in Andhra Pradesh. Kalingapatam, located 237 km to the north in Srikakulam district is famous for its British-era port and tourist potential. Here, too, the effects of sea erosion are quite apparent.
Kalingapatnam was once 500m away from the sea, but now it is just before the coast. The road used to stretch up to 500m from the beach. It has not been completely destroyed by seawater entering the village, Kal Ishwar from Kalingapatnam, told Mongabay India.
Vaspalli Suresh (62 year-old villager from Kalingapatnam) said that the area is now inundated. The sea has engulfed our crematorium and temple. Many such structures were built inside. These activities have a negative impact on the livelihood of local fishermen as well as the potential tourism potential of the area.
Andhra Pradesh’s 974-kilometre-long coastline is prone to erosion. However, the coastal region between Kakinada and Uppada has suffered severe coastal erosion damage.
According to the EstimatesThe 30% of Andhra Pradesh’s coast is at risk of sea erosion according to the NCCR, an independent institute of the Union government based in Chennai. It covers approximately 290 kms.
Continue reading: A community-created Mangrove Forest protects a village’s from being eroded away
Extreme weather can cause displacement
Many pockets along the coast districts of Odisha show the years-long suffering of coastal communities that were forced to migrate, sometimes overnight. Seven villages gradually moved into the ocean in Satabhaya district of Kendrapara and were later resettled in Bagapatia.
Take the example of Udayakani, in the Puri district in Odisha. In 1999, the village experienced a sudden tidal rise that led to large-scale inundation and forced them to move. Similar is the story of Chinua village, which was also resettled twice.
Mongabay India was told by Rabindra Nath Pradhan that Chinua village is two kilometers from the coast. He said that the land was theirs after their forefathers bought it. They did not receive any land-related assistance from the government.
We arrived in 2000. There were approximately 40 households in the village. The severe cyclonic storm of 1999 smashed all the houses. All of them moved into this land. Pradhan stated that they were all able to survive when the cyclone struck during the day.
Pradhan and other villages claimed the villagers of Chinua, Udayakani, had to shelter temporarily near the green belt along coast with some assistance from the government before they could settle down in other areas following the construction of a few swelling units close to their farmlands.
Udayakani villager Chinua claimed that the Odisha government provided Rs. 22,000 each to the affected families, but no land as compensation.
Mongabay India spoke to Gobind Pradhan, 85-year-old resident of Udayakani, about how the cyclones that hit their area, sea erosion and flooding have often had an impact on their farming activities as well as the overall health in the affected villages.
Extreme weather has caused the destruction of the green belt that runs between the sea and the ground. Many mangrove and casuarina forests have been destroyed and dried. Pradhan explained that we are unable to grow many crops here due to frequent flooding. However, the salinity in our area has increased which has led to problems in drinking water availability.
Resettlement problems
The government has had to do a tremendous job of resettlement, especially for fishermen communities, despite receiving government assistance. Ramayapatnam, a coastal district in Southern Odisha, Ganjam, is close to the Odisha–Andhra border. Here, the worst effects of sea erosion have occurred. Around 10 villages in this area are in disrepair and are vulnerable to extreme weather conditions.
For their safety, the government built around 400 houses in a nearby resettled community. However, only five families have moved into those concrete houses with electricity, water, and good roads.
Mohini is a Ramayapatnam resident and helps his family with the fishing trade. Many other women in the village do the exact same work. Mongabay India was told by her, “Very few of us moved into the resettled colony because most of the villagers here are involved with fishing and hardly anybody wants to go there. It will distance them from the seashore where it is easy to access the sea, despite understanding the risks.
Experts believe that many of Odisha’s resettlements and those in other coastal states are a result of a lack of policy documents and vision. Ranjan Panda from Odisha, a Water and Climate Change expert, said to Mongabay India, “Most coastal states in India do not have a clear plan for resettlement.” People who are displaced by such conditions are often marginalised and poor. This is because the sea can take your land away and there is no provision to compensate it with money or land.
He also advocated for an assessment on the land available near coastal areas where resettlement could take place, and assessment of coastal displacement hotspots in order to improve planning for resettlement as well as climate mitigation adaptation plans.
Read more:How infrastructure projects intensified cyclone Tauktaes impact in Kerala
Extreme weather and migration
Experts also believe that extreme weather can cause intra- and interstate migration of people from coastal areas of the country. Bhubaneswar-based Umi, who heads the migration unit at Aide et Action claims that coastal residents are skilled-based communities and frequently migrate to other states in search of better incomes.
People are seen migrating in several coastal areas of Odisha. Surat’s coastal district of Ganjam is home to 700,000. This is a large number. It has a long history of migration. He said that if you start from Balasore or Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Puri or Jagatsinghpur, you will notice how prominent migration is.
Coastal Odisha has better education and skills. Take Pattamundai, a coastal district in Kendrapara. This district is known for having highly skilled plumbers. They can be found all across the country, and they are extremely skilled at their job. Because of their skills, these people moved out. Daniel said that you will find coastal Odisha people in Kerala, coastal Gujarat, and other areas.
A Study Centre for Migration and Labour Solutions in Odisha stated that in coastal Odisha, the household level-migration is higher. Most male members migrate to other regions leaving behind their family members and women dependent on them.
Daniel, who was part in the study, also spoke about the responsibility on women in these coastal areas, especially in financial tough times like the COVID-19 Pandemic, who are left to fend their own children and finances. However, he said that extreme weather-related migrating is not only caused by cyclones and sea eroding.
Other triggering factors
Climate-induced weather is not tied to coastal areas. Migration can also affect areas that are in drought or tribal areas. Bolangir has 30 years of drought history. You will experience drought in the region every second year. Crop failure is a result of moisture reductions. Daniel said that there are also triggering numbers for migration. We also see rampant migration coming from such areas.
Pratap Mohanty (Professor of Marine Sciences at Berhampur University, Ganjam) also confirmed the theory of migration due erosion and extreme weather. Ganjam is one of the most vulnerable areas to migration in Odisha.
Ganjam is a rainshadow zone, so it gets less rain. This area is not conducive to agriculture. They don’t see much revenue and production, even if they are engaged in it. This is why people migrate from here. Other environmental factors, such as rain, can also trigger migration. Mongabay India was told by Mohanty that Ganjam’s migration is more from the interior than from the coast.
According to a 2021 StudyActionAid and Climate Action Network South Asia estimate that 45 million people will have to migrate to other parts of India by 2050 due to extreme weather conditions. The study attributed climate-induced migration to the loss in farmlands and boats of fishermen during coastal Odisha. However, in Sunderbans, West Bengal, the collapse of traditional livelihoods, poor infrastructure, and climatic factors were responsible for the migration.
Climate change: Is it a reason?
Mohanty has been studying coastal erosion along the Bay of Bengal since more than a decade. He analyses the effects using satellite images and ground observations along the Odisha coast. When Mohanty was asked about the most vulnerable region along the Bay of Bengal to cyclones and sea erosion, he replied that it was Odisha due to its funnel-shaped shape and the presence of several river mouths. This results in a higher sea surface temperature along the coast and shallower sea.
According to Mohanty from 1891 to 2021 the coast region in Odisha saw 96 cyclones. It was the period between 1891 and 1900 that saw the most cyclones, with a total of 20. He claimed that data shows that although the frequency of cyclones has decreased along the Odisha coast but their intensity have increased.
Mohanty claimed that it would not be scientific to directly link the intensification of cyclones and climate change. Mongabay-India was informed by Debedatta Swain from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar, that although it is difficult for scientists to link climate change directly with cyclones or sea erosion, if the global temperatures rise and the sea levels rise, India’s coasts could be affected.
According to a Please replyThe Indian Parliament’s Indian federal government gave the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), which monitors the shoreline changes along the Indian coast. According to data, the data identified 98 areas of high sea erosion in India. However, 59 of these hotspots are located along the eastern coast of India: Tamil Nadu (28), West Bengal (16), Andhra Pradesh (16), Odisha (5), and Puducherry (3). According to field experience, the list only includes areas where devastations have been well documented and does not include new areas.
Not only is the eastern Indian coast being affected, but many other regions, including Putturai, Muttam and Tiruchchendur as well as Kilathotam and Kilathotam in Tamil Nadu and Sagar, Bagmara and Henry Island, Chaimari, and others in West Bengal, are also seeing extreme weather conditions causing sea erosion and devastation.
Banner image:A man walks along Uppada beach in Andhra Pradesh. This village has suffered severe coastal erosion in recent years. Photo by Manish Kumar/Mongabay