The Conservation Action Trust and Kolwanimata Mitra Mandal, a local fishermen organization, join hands in Mumbai to demand for action against climate change and to maintain CO2 level in the atmosphere at 350ppm.
One week ago in Mumbai, India, the fishermen community of Sarsole village, Navi Mumbai and Conservation Action Trust showcased an event symbolizing the necessity to urge world leaders to take bold and immediate steps to address climate change and reduce carbon emission, to move beyond speeches and to initiate action on the ground as a part of the global day of action coordinated by 350.org. The fishermen created a 350 symbol in the Thane Creek which marked their protest against individual governments’ selfish negotiations rather than cooperating for a global consensus.
The Conservation Action Trust (www.cat.org.in) is a registered non-profit organization formed to protect the environment, particularly forests and wildlife. The main purpose of the Trust is to educate and enlighten decision makers and the public about the importance of forests and mangrove, wetlands for our survival. Meghna Nayak explained why they organized the event, “Global Warming raises the sea water temperature which in turn directly effects the fish catch. It is affecting the fishermen and their livelihood, their Survival!” Kolwanimata Mitra Mandal is a registered organization of fishermen at Sarsole which is one of the fishermen villages along the coast of Navi Mumbai. KMM is around four years old. It comprises of 40-50 boys of the village. Their mission is to highlight the issues concerning the lives of the small fishing village to the authorities who have turned a blind eye to their problems.
After decades of denial, humanities have woken up to the possible terminal illness of the planet, being global warming. Now is the time to act, to control the damage before the effects become irreversible.“The livelihood of the fishermen will get affected. The rising of sea levels will lead to displacing all the coastal communities to leave their communities. We are talking of their culture, their civilization; their livelihood getting wiped out from the Map They will ultimately land up in the slums in the cities. Do they deserve this existence?” – Stalin Dayanand – Conservation Action Trust
Near Thane city, in the 80s, fishermen used to get 27 varieties of fish. Now there is no fish catch, because of pollution, siltation and creek bed is rising because of Global Warming. Storm water is not getting flushed out. Fishes are changing the pattern. Marine cycle gets disturbed. The food chain pattern gets affectd in turn the the migratory pattern of the birds. This is all a vicious cycle of Global Warming. “Dr Amol Patwardhan- Conservation action Trust.