Paper Short Abstract:

On ecologically fragile Sagar Island in the Indian Sundarbans, thinking about catastrophes is shaped by both linear and cyclical time, linking displacement and upheavals to faith and continuity. An interplay of temporality and materiality helps understand diverse experiences of crises and agency.

Paper Abstract:

The deltaic region of the Southern Sundarbans in the Bay of Bengal is characterised by the recurrent mutation of riverine geographies and shifting island terrains. The impacts of the climate crisis aggravate the ecological fragility of the islands in the estuary. This paper studies Sagar Island, the largest inhabited island in the Indian Sundarbans, known for its revered Hindu pilgrimage site marking the confluence of the holy river Ganga and the Bay of Bengal. The everyday lived experiences of the islanders are shaped by their relative isolation from the mainland, vulnerability to rapid planetary changes and dwelling amidst the timelessness of the place of pilgrimage. Compiling archival findings with ethnographic fieldwork, the paper looks at the social implications of the transformation of inhabitants into ecological refugees by the twin processes of land erosion and tropical catastrophes. The paper shows that when thinking about catastrophes, two notions of time intersect and inform the islanders’ worldviews. The perception of catastrophes, embankment breaches, and land loss as a linear causal process prompts the relocation of refugees to colonies, which entails deep socio-economic and cultural dislocations that lead to new forms of precarity. However, the notion of cyclical time informed by religious worldviews counterbalances the linear progression of loss by providing an anchor of faith in continuity despite disruptions. The interplay of temporality and materiality allows for the understanding of diverse experiences of agency by examining the intersections of environmental crises, displacement, and the processes of place-making.