For thousands of farmers at Gosaba in the Sunderbans the coming monsoon does not hold out any hope as they continue to battle the curse of extreme salinity of the soil caused by the Aila cyclone two years ago.
Adding to their agony is the lack of manpower as the area has experienced large scale migration since the natural calamity.
The island-dotted tidal region, which falls in the world's largest delta, has no industry and the people largely depend on agriculture, salt water pisciculture and collection of forest produce as their livelihood given the area's unique topography of tropical rain forests and innumerable rivers.
A visit to Chhoto Mollahkahli and Kumirmari panchayat areas in coastal Gosaba block, which forms the southernmost tip of the Sunderbans, reveals the plight of people faced with the environmental wreck caused by the devastating cyclone in May, 2009. The area had experienced devastating floods as the ill-maintained mud embankments gave way allowing saline water of Vidyadhari river to gush in for miles and remain stagnant for over a month.
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