Dear Friends,
The sense of helplessness engulfed me as I made my way from shack to shack through Kapali Bagan slum in Tangra. These “homes” are no larger than 10ft by 8ft, just large enough to accommodate a double-bed, some utensils and, if wealthy enough, a tiny cupboard to store their possessions. The homes were made of discarded pieces of wood, bamboo, plastic sheeting, and corrugated tin. Wood-fuelled cooking stoves were dotted along the narrow path emanating toxic fumes.
A filthy canal ran along the other side of these homes. Some of the residents still use the canal to defecate as it is right next to where they live. Others now make the three-minute walk to use the toilets Calcutta Rescue constructed last year.
The local municipality had just dredged the canal of rubbish and debris – a pre-monsoon necessity – to prevent flooding during the unpredictable rainy season. An act for which the local government must be applauded but unfortunately it has left Kapali Bagan residents in a dire situation.
The dredging had caused serious damage to land alongside the canal. The embankment where the shacks are built is sinking into the canal and a large crack has appeared in the floor of 32 homes. The part of the floor nearest to the water’s edge is now several inches below the other half the floor.
Piyari Bibi, a 70-year-old patient of CR’s neighbourhood clinic in Tangra, broke her arm one night when she tripped over the crack in her home. She lay there wailing in pain until her neighbours came to her rescue. CR is now monitoring her recovery, but she spends most of her days lying on the path rather than risk being in her own home.
Another lady, Jochiman di, asked that I enter her house to look at the seriousness of the situation. While I wanted to discover more, I was reluctant to set any expectation that CR could solve this terrible situation. She insisted and I had a closer inspection. Her home was clearly sinking. Even I felt afraid that the floor beneath me could give way at any moment, and we would all be sucked into the murky canal water below.
Jochiman di, and all the other residents I spoke to, were feeling helpless. They didn’t have money to repair their homes. They had nowhere else to live, even temporarily. Any alternative accommodation or any other support has not been offered from anyone. The enormity of the problem, as is often the case in our line of work, also left me feeling like Jochiman di – helpless and unsure.
I immediately spoke with my colleagues about the situation in Kapali Bagan. They helped me regain my composure and steered my focus towards practical ways of solving this problem. Currently we are in regular discussions with the municipality cajoling them into action.
But to rehouse them will cost money and I hope that CR can provide them with the support they will need to be able to rebuild elsewhere. If you would like to help make this happen, please make a donation below. Thank you so much!
