Pilgrims face climate change on an isle.

• West Bengal government ministers discussed the Gangasagar Mela 2025 on Sagar Island, the largest island in the Sundarbans archipelago.

• The event attracts lakhs of pilgrims annually, including the Kapil Muni temple, who take a dip at the confluence of the Ganga and the sea.

• The event is a key part of the Trinamool Congress’s outreach efforts.

• The event has seen a significant footfall, with about 42 lakh pilgrims visiting the island between January 1 and 12.

• The State’s expenses for the event were around ₹250 crore, with no information on the amount spent this year.

• Bankim Chandra Hazra, the 75-year-old Minister for Sundarban Affairs, raised concerns about erosion at the Kapil Muni temple.

• The only hope of arresting erosion is a proposed ₹4,100-crore project between the World Bank and the West Bengal government.

• The mela is a significant religious event, but the beach is severely eroded, preventing pilgrims from accessing it.

• The Shankaracharya of Puri, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, emphasized the pilgrimage’s religious significance and endorsed the proposal of the West Bengal government that the annual pilgrimage be accorded national mela status.

• Climate change experts believe that large-scale construction on Sagar Island’s ecologically fragile beaches has worsened erosion.

Rising Sea Levels and Cyclones Impact on Bamkimnagar Village

• Bamkimnagar village, located 20 km from the mela, is facing rising sea levels and frequent cyclones.

• Mehrun Bibi, a 39-year-old woman, struggles with her pond, unable to find fish due to the increase in salinity.

• Bilasini Bar, 37, lives in a house with no concrete roof, worried about moving with her goats when the next cyclone strikes.

• Saddam Gazi, 26, works as a pathology technician and collects blood samples from the island.

• Rising sea levels are reducing employment opportunities for the youth on the island, leading many to migrate to other states for work.

• An earthen embankment, covered with geotextiles, is between the sea and the modest houses of Mehrun, Bar, and Gazi.

• Dipak Maity, a fisherman, says the administration has prohibited them from taking motorised fishing boats into the water from January 5 to 20 due to the heavy movement of pilgrims.

• The ecological stress of the many people visiting the site weighs heavily on Hazra, who questions why erosion prevention measures do not work in front of the Kapil Muni temple.

• Political observers see the Trinamool Congress government pushing for organising the Gangasagar Mela and building temples as a “soft Hindutva push” to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party.

• The Chief Minister appealed to the Kapil Muni temple trust to allocate funds for constructing concrete embankments to prevent rising seawater from reaching the temple.