Climate Change and Migration in South Asia

Geographical Impact in Bundelkhand

• Bundelkhand spans 13 districts across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, characterized by steep hills and declining rainfall.
• Data indicates a temperature increase of 2-3.5º C by 2100, exacerbating drought conditions.
• Regions like Datia faced nine droughts from 1998 to 2009, with Lalitpur and Mahoba experiencing eight.

Social and Economic Effects

• Farmers, facing crop failures, fall into debt, pushing them to seek alternative employment like diamond mining.
• Migration becomes common, with destinations including Surat, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai.
• This migration alters the social fabric, with family structures impacted and women taking on more responsibilities.

Charpauli Village in Bangladesh

• The village faces severe riverbank erosion during monsoons, leading to loss of land and homes.
• Between 1990 and 2020, the Jamuna river's banks eroded significantly, with climate change intensifying these effects.
• Residents initially relocate within the village but eventually migrate to cities like Dhaka as a last resort.

Climate Migration

• Defined as relocation due to climate-related disasters, it causes about 20 million people to migrate internally each year.
• In Charpauli, migration often results in informal employment in cities or agricultural labor in other villages.

Challenges in Vidarbha and Marathwada

• These regions lie in the Western Ghats' rain shadow, leading to reduced rainfall and frequent droughts.
• Erratic rainfall and high temperatures make agriculture unsustainable, prompting migration to sugarcane plantations in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
• Migrants work under harsh conditions, facing debt bondage and poor living conditions.

Economic Impact

• India is a major sugarcane producer, yet the conditions for migrant laborers are dire.
• Laborers, hired in couples known as 'koita,' face precarious conditions and must meet production targets to repay advances, leading to debt cycles.

Migration's Broader Implications

• In urban areas, migrants often live in slums under poor conditions, working as daily-wage laborers.
• Families left behind struggle financially, with women and children facing increased vulnerabilities.

Adaptation vs. Crisis

• Some argue migration diversifies income and builds resilience against environmental changes.
• However, experts view it as forced displacement, worsening social security and representing a crisis rather than adaptation.