The Sundarbans dilemma: Islands swallowed by water, and nowhere else to go

Ashtami Mondal, 30, whose 31-year-old husband Haripada died in a tiger attack, cleans utensils in a pond next to her home on the island of Kumirmari in the Sundarbans, India, November 19, 2020. Climate change is leaving less and less of the Sundarbans habitable [File: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]

Sundarbans, India – Panchanan Dolui, who lives on Mousuni Island in the Indian Sundarbans, has shifted homes three times due to floods and river erosion.

Each time, he moves farther from the receding edge of the island to avoid displacement. He has watched the river eat away vast tracts of land. “Where do we go? There is nowhere to go,” he laments.