With the globe hotting up by 4-5 degrees in the course of this century, the South Asian region could face a wave of migrants displaced due to the rising sea level, Green Peace warned.
The Green Peace International which is educating the world about the need to address global warming had a unique programme in Bangalore. Activists dressed in blue with coloured faces roamed the main streets to draw the attention to the possible influx of ‘climate migrants’ to the already crowded City.
With the globe hotting up by 4-5 degrees in the course of this century, the South Asian region could face a wave of migrants displaced due to the rising sea level, they warned. The green peace activists, went around displaying ‘Blue Alert’- Climate Migrants in South Asia, a report by Sudhir Chella Rajan, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Chennai, which highlights the problems and threats to the South Asian region “The report says at least 125 million in India and Bangladesh will be rendered homeless and 1.3 million people will be deprived of livelihood.
And also, Mr. Jigar, the vulnerable population (huge) along the coast are fishermen or small and marginal farmers. Do you think they will all move to 'Bangalore'? They might move inland, but to say 'Bangalore' and giving a title 'climate migrants will FLOCK city' is very mis-leading. So, Green Peace should be a bit more precise in their statements to the press. In other words, Bangalore actually will have the least migrants (very very small percentage), when compared to towns near the coast.
by Abraham on 4/11/2008 1:42:23 AM
You are right Mr. Jigar. People will move 'inland' and I do understand the issues regarding sea level rise. But please explain, why only Bangalore? I feel there is a lack of understanding on 'rural-urban' migration. People who move to urban centres for 'livelihoods' are large in numbers than people moving inland due to natural calamities. You should just visit coromandel coast. After the Tsunami, people moved inland, yes, but not to a level where they lost livelihoods.
by Jigar on 4/10/2008 4:49:46 AM
this is in response to what mr. abraham said. it is such a pity that people dont understand the cause and post their comments, jus to make a mockery of things. atlest greenpeace tried somethin good. and we they jus wanted to show tht how awekward would it b if ppl, "in the near future" migrate to inland areas, cus they've lost their homes in the coastal areas, thn wht impact it would have on the people already livin in those cities.
by Abraham on 4/10/2008 1:50:08 AM
I don't really think this type of migration is really true. People from different parts of the country came to Bangalore because of the 'jobs' created by the software companies. Whether the software companies set up their shops in Bangalore is because of the 'climate' is surely not true!! On a lighter note, these people 'painted blue', I wonder if they are all born and bred in Bangalore or some of them or their parents have migrated to Bangalore and if so, then did they for the 'CLIMATE'?!!
regarding your article "climate migrants flock to the city" because of rising sea levels. It is time India takes a page from Denmark and start building the complex dam system Denmark has in keeping the ocean at bay.
