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About Maipith Island
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Maipith Island is situated in the remotest part of the Sundarban bordering Bangladesh. The Island measures about 20 km in length (north-south) and 4-6 km in breadth. It consists of 9 villages inhabited by 65,000 people. Three saline water rivers surround the island. There is no electricity facility on the Island. The roads are mostly muddy with some brick inlay work in short stretches. Communication with the mainland is by motorboat or road. It takes approximately. three hours to reach the mainland.
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| People living here are the most vulnerable communities of Sundarban and consist of fishing communities, wage laborers including agricultural laborers and child workers. There is a-large concentration of Scheduled castes (44%). Landless agricultural laborers (40%) and marginal farmers (50%) constitute about 90% of the total cultivators in the area. Their main livelihood sources are small businesses and wage labour for which they engage in agriculture, fishing and other odd casual jobs, More than 85% cultivable land area is mono-cropped with khariff (monsoon) rice and has moderate yield. Recently, some vegetables are being cultivated.
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Nearly 50% of the families live below the poverty line. There is constant migration and trafficking of girls and boys. About 48% girls are married off before the age of 18 years.
The Sundarban is constrained by environment hazards like salinity, severe soil erosion, furies of storms and cyclones and tidal bores. Periodic inundation is a regular feature on these islands.
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| Location Map |
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i) The Child Sponsorship Programme is supported by Children International (C I) Kansas City, USA, through SAHAY, Kolkata. |
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ii) TRICKLE-UP PROGRAMME OF U.S.A. THROUGH TRICKLE-UP, KOLKATA
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iii) RAIN WATER HARVESTING THROUGH LAND SHAPING SCHEME OF SUNDARBAN DEVELOPMENT BOARD, GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL
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iv) WWF Programme funded by WWF India, Sundarban Programme office
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