Lopamudra Mitra distributes relief kits to Amphan-hit Sundarbans

The Amphan-ravaged

Sundarbans

are now in everyone's prayers. The mangrove forests that acted as shock absorbers for all torrid storms and cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal and passing through Kolkata is now destroyed beyond imagination. Singer

Lopamudra Mitra

, who visited two villages - Jamespur and Dayapur Vessel Ghat opposite Rangabelia - on Monday with relief kits have seen the devastation and thinks it requires a lot of work to get the people back to leading their daily life.

"I went there in a launch to places under

Gosaba

and met the BDO there. We heard that people have still not been able to go back homes. They took shelter in a school building on the night of the storm and has been staying there since," said Lopamudra.

The areas are devastated with saline water reaching up to the roots of the trees and making their livelihoods go for a toss. They don't even have access to safe drinking water now. "My group of five friends and I, along with an NGO, could hand over the relief packets to 1,000 families there. We took lots of bottled water with us. Our kits had packets of puffed rice, biscuits, sanitary napkins, clothes - both old and new, detergents, antiseptic creams, masks and tents," informed Lopamudra.

Most people had the roof of their huts broken after the cyclone. The BDO informed the singer that very few relief and help had reached till now in these interior areas of Sundarbans. "People I spoke to there said during Aila the severity of cyclonic winds was much less than during Amphan. Aila saw more thunderstorms and heavy showers instead. They seemed helpless. Our launch had to stop at a place in between for us to eat and we could see people lining up thinking we will provide some relief. But we had exhausted our kits by then," said Lopamudra.

Just like the people staring with expectant eyes for some relief, the natural surroundings in Sundarbans mirrors an equally heartbreaking scene. Apart from the people displaced, uprooted trees make for a sad sight too. "We assist the relief work in Bengal for disaster management training and went to the Sundarbans with Lopamudra and others. We saw flooded islands. as dams have broken and caused the water to flow in. Usually, there are storms throughout the year in the Sundarbans. But this time there has been maximum damage with uprooted trees, broken huts and damaged boats," said Pradipta Ghosal, disaster management expert.
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