Child Drowning in Sundarbans, West Bengal

• A 2019 household survey by The George Institute for Global Health (TGIGH) and non-profit Child in Need Institute (CINI) revealed that three children aged between 1 and 9 drown daily in the Sundarbans.
• The survey is being repeated this year, but data show no improvement.
• To address this issue, Kavach (protector) centres were launched in September 2023, a community-run initiative where’mothers’ look after children between 4 months and 5 years.
• The project is funded and supported by India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the World Health Organization, TGIGH, and CINI.
• A two-month-old initiative of pond-based swimming pools is part of the project, where swimmers train children above 5 so they can save themselves and call for help when needed.
• The Kavach Maas also do community plays at other villages to raise awareness about drowning and receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first response training for over two weeks.
• The belief that barriers around ponds to prevent children from slipping in would anger the deity is a long-held belief in the Sundarbans.
• Despite the efforts, the Block Development Officer in Kultali, Suchandan Baidya, states that there is no fund allocation for drowning prevention and that the government does not acknowledge the problem.