COVID-19 lockdown and distressed reverse migration enhance human-tiger conflict in Sundarban: An eco-psychiatric observation.

COVID-19 lockdown enforced distressed reverse migration in Sundarban, which caused an unprecedented population addition to the already devastated fragile Sundarban ecosystem. Acute poverty and food crisis prompted many migrants to explore forest-based living, thus enhancing fatal human-tiger conflicts. Families of deceased migrants face significant mental health trauma and catastrophic psychosocial consequences. Copyright:

ECO-LANDSCAPE OF SUNDARBAN

Sundarban is the world’s largest delta at the confluence of the Bay of Bengal. It also contains the largest Mangrove forest and the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger. Sundarban covers an area of about 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi), of which 6,017 km2 (2,323 sq mi) is in Bangladesh, and over 4,260 km2 (1,640 sq mi) is in the West Bengal state of India, extended across the South and North 24 Parganas districts. Both Sundarbans are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The Indian Sundarban has 106 islands. People live on 52 islands. The population of 19 community development blocks of Sundarban is 4.7 million as per the 2011 census. It is a highly underdeveloped area with severe poverty and ill health exacerbated by access difficulties.[1] Almost half of the population (47%) are marginalized groups such as scheduled castes and tribes. More than 40% of households live below the poverty line, and 13% are officially declared the “poorest of the poor.”[2] Low human development characterizes the region, with vast gender inequities in multiple arenas, including educational attainment, work participation, and gender-based violence.[3] The main occupations are natural resource-based livelihood measures such as farming, fishing, and honey and timber collection from the Sundarban reserve forest (SRF). Cultivation depends on rainwater as the river water has high salinity. High embankments (3500 km) are built around cultivated land and villages to protect them from salty river water inundation. Sundarban witnessed a steady population increase because of external (Bangladesh) and internal (from neighboring districts) migration. This population pressure intensified resource competition and high poverty.[4] Vast areas are affected by coastal erosion and cyclonic surges, causing saline water inundation and over-exploitation of resources.[5] The consequential loss in agricultural crop productivity imposes severe challenges to the farming communities of these islands.

An estimated 4.7 million people are struggling with the fragile ecosystem. Farming, fishing, collecting honey, and tourism are a few employment opportunities available. However, climate change has been making their lives harder. The sea-level rise in the delta, much higher than the average global sea-level rise (3.14 mm per year), also contributed to the recurrent migration flow.[6] Due to the scarcity of fresh groundwater resources, mono-cropping is common. For many, migration is a way out.[7] These social and ecological dimensions cumulate to make the region and its people highly vulnerable to climate and environmental changes[89] and human trafficking.[10]

Sundarban- eco-specificity and distress-migration

An analysis of 1891–2010 data showed the Indian Sundarban evidenced a 26% rise in tropical storms, with the frequency spiking in the last decade.[11] In the recent past, several cyclonic storms such as Sidr (in 2007), Aila (in 2009), Phailin (in 2013), Hudhud (in 2014), and Bulbul (in 2019) have struck the Sundarban with cycles of immense destruction. These ecological changes triggered an environmental out-migration from the Sundarbans.[12] It is estimated that half a million young men migrate out of the Sundarban region for work every year.

Cyclone Amphan, a category 5 cyclone, hit West Bengal and Bangladesh in the afternoon of May 20, 2021, with heavy rains, a massive storm surge, and sustained winds of 170 kilometers per hour. It caused enormous destruction of life and property amid the COVID-19 pandemic. People thronged school buildings and storm shelters despite fear of COVID-19 contagion. The agricultural department estimated heavy losses incurred by 1,08,000 farmers across 17,800 hectares of the crop field. The surge of brackish water in meadows and ponds killed fishes and rendered areas uncultivable for years ahead.[13] To overcome the acute food shortage, deep forest exploration in search of fish, crab, honey, and firewood is the only option open, and thus man–tiger conflicts spiked in recent months.[14] The latest incident brings the fatality toll from tiger attacks in the Sundarban to at least 26 over the past 14 months, the state wildlife department official said.[15]

Anthropogenic pressure due to reverse-migrant overflow

The impact of climate change sets a vicious cycle of outward migration in a chronic fashion in Sundarban. In the fourth week of May 2020, the category 5 tropical cyclone devastated the life and property of Sundarban. It coincided with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The triple ecological crisis,[16] climate change, COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (imposed on 24 March 2020), and recurrent devastating cyclones enhanced the distressed migration and accelerated human trafficking from this region.

The sudden nationwide lockdown and sealing of inter-state borders triggered a panic-stricken reverse migration of informal migrant workers all over India.[17] The Sundarban region has a large migrant population working in Kerala and has an enormous inflow of those workers occurred in the last 2 weeks after the lockdown was declared.[18] Though the accurate data for reverse migration for India and Sundarban after COVID-19 are unavailable, the available report shows 250,000 to 300,000 migrants returned to their families, which consists of approximately 51% of the families of Sundarban.[19] It is estimated that one in every five families at least has one migrant member.[20] This extra-population increased the threat of disease in the islands, loss of remittances in migrant households, increased pressure on natural resources and overtaxed the local labor-market economy.[21] In addition to this sudden reverse migration due to the COVID-19 lockdown, a new factor was observed, that is, the trapped population (due to COVID lockdown). Tens of thousands of people in the Sundarban typically earn money by working as laborers elsewhere in the state or India. Their outward movement was blocked entirely. The COVID-19 pandemic also complicated the relief work. Villagers huddled in crowded storm shelters during the cyclone, which authorities feared could spread the virus.[13] Before cyclone Amphan struck, many migrants started returning home after losing their jobs in the cities due to the COVID-19 lockdown. In reality, for many Sundarban people, migration is an ongoing search for a living[22] and a means of survival in an ecologically fragile delta. This time they are seriously affected by the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and tropical cyclone Amphan.[23]

Anthropogenic pressure on forest enhanced human-tiger conflict

Due to economic and environmental specificity, human–animal conflict (mainly tiger but also crocodile, snakes, and shark) is a regular event in Sundarban with loss of life on both sides.[24] Almost every village received 200 to 300 return migrants.[12] In addition to timber cutting, fishing, and crab collection, many of them endangered themselves for honey collection. In the background of the loss of income sources in the islands and extreme poverty, forest exploitation remains the only available livelihood measure for many poor villagers.

Honey collection is risky because it involves deep forest ventures with a long and strenuous physical maneuver. It is worth mentioning that the trees containing beehives are also preferable spots for tiger hides, both because of the availability of sweet honey and easy prey (human honey collector). In that sense, these spots are the “honey-trap” of Sundarban. Unfortunately, these return migrants lack requisite skills and survival techniques amid the deep jungle, behave like novice fishers or crab collectors, and become easy prey for tiger attacks.[25] The report shows at least four successive such deaths reported from the village of Kumirmari, Gosaba Island. Subsequently, the Sundarban tiger reserve authority banned the honey collection, limiting these human–tiger conflicts but intensifying poverty.

Many of the migrant workers who lost their earnings amid the lockdown have turned into fishers for a living. However, due to a lack of jungle perception and survival skills in the dense mangrove forest, they become easy prey to the tiger.[26] A sudden increase in anthropogenic pressure due to the COVID-19 lockdown (reversed forced migration) witnessed a surge in human–tiger conflict.[27] The actual fatality data are challenging because official data show only death with forest permits. However, during the COVID-time, the poorest people entered the reserve forest without a license, so their deaths mainly were unreported. The COVID-19 lockdown and cyclone Amphan accelerated human–tiger conflicts.[28] According to media reports,[29] the recent increase in tiger attacks and death supports this contention: in 2016-6 deaths; 2017-11; 2018-13; 2019-13; and 2020-24 (18 deaths after Amphan). Media reports show 21 deaths last year, up from 13 each in 2018 and 2019. Many attacks are not recorded, as they entered the forest illegally without the forest pass.[30] Usually, 4/5 tiger attacks occur almost every month, and from January 2021 to October 2021, 35 deaths are acknowledged by Mr. N Jana[31] of the Tiger-Widows Welfare Society. He also stated that many people whose bodies are not recovered are also shown as missing persons. Mr. Mondal,[32] a Panchayat member of Gosaba, said that many of the victims were migrant workers who were compelled to return due to the COVID-19 lockdown, who, as a last resort for living, entered the forest to collect crab or fish. One report showed that from May to July 2020, 12 persons were killed by tigers, among which six were migrant workers.[14] Sundarban tiger reserve (STR) authority, as a preventive measure, conducted several awareness campaigns in the villages and prohibited fishing activities in deep forest areas such as Jhila. They also provided LPG cylinder kits to the fishermen to prevent fire-wood collection from the forest. The last published tiger census in 2020-21 estimated 96 tigers are residing in the protected reserve.[33]

Mental health and psychosocial issues

Death by tiger attack is considered a grave misfortune enacted by the wrath of the forest goddess Banabibi, in Sundarban. The affected families (by tiger attack or killing) carry a deep social stigma, avoidance, and segregation in the local community.[34] The traumatic loss of life and extreme economic hardship put the families in acute mental despair, hopelessness, and helplessness. COVID-19 lockdown hampered the timely social support in the islands, if at all available. The authors did a telephone interview with five such bereaved families of Gosaba island. Four entered SRF for fishing and one for honey collection. All families had severe episodes of low mood, with fear and extreme anxiety, repentation, guilt, and very low self-esteem, particularly the surviving wives (3 cases who met the criteria of ICD 10 (International Classification of Diseases, WHO) diagnosis of severe non-psychotic depression with a strong component of agitation-F32.2) and fathers (2 cases-who met the diagnostic criteria of a reactive depressive episode-F32). Two widows needed urgent local block hospital visits for self-neglect and starvation, constant crying, and absolute insomnia with disorientation and extreme physical weakness. One victim’s young daughter (15 years) attempted deliberate self-harm by pesticide poisoning on the day of the event but survived. All bereaved families expressed the urgent health need (including mental health) and support, financial support, and social assistance to overcome their phase of deep grief and food insecurity. Interestingly, this time no community avoidance or social stigmas were reported by the families of the deceased. On the contrary, the local community extended help as per their abilities. More thorough assessment and face-to-face field investigation are urgently required to ascertain the total weight of the psychosocial burden of these families.

Singh (2021) analyzed 38 published works on psychosocial and mental health issues of the migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic times. He stated that “At the time of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in India, the migrants constituted the most vulnerable group for developing psychosocial and mental health issues, given their economic and stressful environmental situations.”[35] Most of the studies indicated multiple psychosocial risks (depriving) factors. These are living conditions, basic needs such as food and water, housing, economic hardship, poverty, unemployment, and insecurity, along with the high potential for COVID-19 infection. All these factors prone them to a devastating negative mental health impact.[36] A study from North India found that 73% of the migrants screened were positive for at least one psychiatric diagnosis, and 51% of the migrants screened were positive for both depression and anxiety.[37] Many studies showed severe mental stress and traumatic experiences, starvation, suicide, and death (due to roadside accidents) among the reversed migrants.[383940] However, none of the studies investigated the family mental health burden of the deceased migrants. This area needs serious study as many of the reverse migrants died from multiple causes. Reverse migration was a nationwide picture during the 68 days of COVID-19 lockdown. The mental health aspects of migrant workers and their families are still not adequately investigated in India.

CONCLUSION

Human–animal conflict is a regular feature in all the reserve forests globally. The COVID-19 lockdown created a massive reverse migration and worsened these conflicts in Sundarban. Different national governments adopted additional steps and methodologies to minimize forest dependence for living. This is a severe issue as it involves the proper displacement of the fringe population and providing suitable living opportunities for this large population. This is a considerable task and entirely depends on the climate consciousness of the national and regional governments, vast amount of money, awareness, and strong political will. The COVID-19 lockdown caused a renewed dependence on forest resources, which costs both human lives and the health of the forest ecosystem. In Sundarban, some local NGOs created a few different types of self-help groups involving return migrants to minimize forest dependency to some extent. The bureaucratic attitude and policymaking should emphasize the conservation of high-value species such as tigers and, at the same time, should provide suitable sustenance for the forest-dependent populations. Interestingly, the STR was recently accredited by the “CATS Honour” by National Tiger Conservation Authority for its excellent tiger conservation.[41] This is a piece of good news, and we welcome it. Still, equally, we are eager to see a giant step from all the stakeholders to mitigate climate change impact and livelihood provision for the entire population of Sundarban. And then only the well-being of both humans and the tigers will prosper.

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The paper is described by respecting the right to privacy of all concerned and presented in a manner consistent with the guidelines of the World Health Organization and the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.