AID Responds to Cyclone Yaas
In the middle of the devastating Covid-19 tsunami, severe cyclone Yaas made landfall in the Bengal – Odisha coast in India on May 26. Strong winds, flooding rains and a coastal storm surge coinciding with a Kotal high tide has devastated the lives of people in Sundarbans and other coastal areas. Your support is needed urgently in distributing essential commodities to the affected people and also for longer term rehabilitation.
Donate to AID's Sundarban Fund Updates from Sundarbans
Your contribution will go a long way in supporting the resilient people of the Sundarbans, as they face the double adversities of COVID-19 and the aftermath of Cyclone Yaas.
Latest updates
Jun 08, 2021
- Chetana Sangha, with leadership from 30 women group leaders from 3 villages, is distributing food to 200 families, pollution control materials to 120 families, pond irrigation support to 58 families and cooking gas supplies to 30 families in Kuemuri. Chetana has distributed 56,000 liters of drinking water, with 400 families receiving 20 liters of water every day.
- Mukti has started “Food for Work” on a large scale with the help of AID, to rebuild the embankments affected by Yaas. Mukti is distributing 2000 litres of drinking water twice a day in each affected villages. Mukti is also helping in massive efforts of dewatering saline water from the ponds and rewatering them with fresh water.
Jun 03, 2021
- AID launches a Sundarbans fund, through which we will raise funds for relief from disasters and long term remediation and rebuilding of climate resilience in the Sundarbans. Donate here!
- AID is sending $10k for the communities of Kumirmari island. Of the 4200 families there 3000 are in distress and 12000 bigha of the 18000 bigha of cultivable land is under saline water. Many people are spending nights in boats or under tents on the road. About 1 Km of the embankment in southwest corner of the island has breached due to cyclone Yaas.
May 28, 2021
- AID has sent $40k for initial relief of food and essential commodities to affected communities in Namkhana, Kultali, Patharpratima and Mathurapur II blocks.
Our approach
Immediate relief efforts by AID partners
Community kitchens being run to provide meals to affected communities.
AID partners providing drinking water, which is limited due to saline water intrusion.
In still-inundated areas, providing cooked food is a priority for our partners.
All hands on deck to rebuild the breached embankments.
Embankments devastated by past cyclones being reinforced in preparation for Yaas 
Our partners are providing cooked food in flood centers where the vulnerable families have been relocated. AID initiates relief and rebuilding after Cyclone Yaas
Why AID?
AID has had long term presence in Sundarbans, supporting grassroots work for more than 12 years. Check the video below to learn about our long-term association with partners in Sundarban. We are in it for the long-haul.
As water levels rose beyond the embankments in Sundarban, saline water has entered into people’s agricultural fields and freshwater ponds – the primary source of sweet water for everyone’s needs in these areas. The salinated fields imply that agriculture might be severely affected in the next few years.
Before landfall, our NGO partners at Sunderbans took proactive preparatory measures to mitigate loss of human lives and livelihood.
- Awareness campaigns were carried on at villages from about a week.
- Emergency repairing of embankments and earthen dams were undertaken, which protect the villages from the saline water.
- They helped make cyclone centers ready in partnership with the local government authorities, along with arranging for local schools and double-storied houses to accommodate people during the cyclone.
- Dry foods, staples like rice and pulses, drinking water, and water purifiers were stocked at the cyclone shelters.
- Awareness at cyclone shelters about Covid guidelines and distribution of masks were carried on.
- Arrangement of water pumps were made beforehand to clean out polluted waters from ponds, which become a major health hazard after the cyclone.
Regular updates from the ground
Amphan relief work from 2020
The cyclone Amphan struck the southern West Bengal coast on May 20, 2020 and devastated areas of Sundarban and E. Midnapore district in West Bengal, and the coastal blocks of Odisha, at a time when Covid-19 and lockdown had already affected the lives of millions there. Here’s a summary of our Amphan relief efforts.
We started working intensively with farmers in the Sundarban region in 2009 after Cyclone Aila struck exactly 12 years ago, and have since worked with more than 25000 farmers. When Amphan hit West Bengal in May 2020, AID supported long term rehabilitation in over 100 villages in remote Sundarbans. Find out more details of our Amphan relief work here,
AID’s previous work in Sundarbans
We had started working intensively in the region with the community in 2009, on reclaiming salinated land through sustainable organic practices and trying to revive agriculture. It took years for the farmers to get back on their feet. In the last 11 years we have worked with close to 25,000 farmers, many of who are supplying organic vegetables to Kolkata earning better than they used to.
Take this virtual tour through AID’s work on sustainable agriculture in Sundarban.
Find more about our work with the farmers of Sundarban after Aila here. In 2019, we also supported local communities during the cyclone Bulbul. Details can be found here.