Sinking Lives of Munroe Thuruthu -- In Photos

Bindu Gopinath
01/02/2016

A walk around Munroe Thuruthu’s affected areas reveals a grim picture: Many houses have sunk, the earth devouring their foundation. A number of them are abandoned. School children wade through muddy waters with their sandals in hand. To reach the houses, you have to carefully tip-toe on coconut trunk bridges. Sandbags are lined up on courtyards. Drinking water is scarce: several islanders wait for their turn to fill buckets at a tap that is ironically surrounded by water.

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Water overflows the island's pathways

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Sludge covers the compound of a house

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Taps run dry for most of the day

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Waterlogged courtyard of a house

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Island is taking over a sunken house