Unpredictable weather, dwindling catch drive fishermen into choppy waters

Although weather prediction techniques have improved vastly over the last decade and storm predictions are made five days in advance, the fishermen often fail to receive warnings in time

The calm coastal line at Kakdwip fishing harbour in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, defies the ferocity of the sea it limits. It also defies the anguish of Drubadi Das, who lost her husband to a sea storm. 

A year back, the trawler in which Das’s husband had gone out fishing in the Bay of Bengal along with 10 other fishermen tumbled when it was struck by cyclonic winds. The fishermen got entangled in their own fishing nets in the rough waters and drowned.

In the last six months, 37 fishermen from West Bengal have lost their