A Lily pond on the way to Sonakhali
After loading of all materials our boat leaves Sonakhali, while Kaustuv and I prepare to travel with the car to Gadkhali (reason - a new driver this time) and join the rest of the team there
High tide at Gadkhali
Arum loaded on top deck
Unloading rice at Chargheri - all the water seen in the background drained out in the next 15 mins and the boat ran a serious risk of getting embedded for 7-8 hours. The additional depth of draft along this end helped the boat escape into the river in intriguing circumstances (it almost appeared that the boat was sailing through land!).
Stacks of rice at distribution shed
Distribution starts: the cards are out
Dr. Susanta (Santo da) prepares to flag off the medical camp
The boundary of Chargheri and Bidhan Colony
People staying on temporary houses on the road
Sun sets over stagnant waters in a field of Chargheri
The water standing on the backside of these huts is covering the agricultural land of Girindranath Paik
Ajit Kr. Biswas (left) accompanied me on the way from Kakmari bazar back to our distribution point, and shared some information that proved useful for the survey.
Rice bags in the boat
Debajyoti da's overview of the distribution point - view looking east [the river is on the far side of the dyke where people are queueing up]
Santo da, clicked by Debu da presumably before being pushed hard by a deluge of patients
A shot of Chargheri village on our way to Kakmari Bazar in Bidhan Colony
Primary school
Kakmari bazar - 1
Route from Sonakhali to Chargheri [map satellite pic courtesy: Google maps]
We did not find any pucca residential houses on the route from distribution point to Kakmari bazar. We saw evidence that water had reached above window top level in many of the intact houses. The houses that had bamboo stick (‘konchi’) reinforcement in walls managed to keep standing (even after mud was washed away) via support from the bamboo sticks. This house with such ‘reinforced walls’ tells the story clearly – the ‘konchi’s are showing up to man height with no mud around them, and ABOVE man height the konchi’s disappear into intact mud walls.
Damage to bund pathway near south side of Kakmari bazar (in the backdrop)
