Erosion by the Malda River has taken a severe turn bordering Malgara village in Kaliganj Upazila of Lalmonirhat engulfing roads, croplands and homesteads.
According to local sources, hundreds of villagers living beside the river have been passing their days amid worries and woes due to the furious turn of erosion.
Local people said erosion by the river has been intensified for the last fifteen days and has already engulfed at least 10 houses and nearly 100 bighas of croplands in the village.
Besides, over a hundred homesteads, several hundred bighas of arable land and an important road have been facing the risk of being eroded by the furious river at any time.
Meanwhile, the river has devoured a significant portion of the road in the village and the rest is also on the verge of collapse. The communication with the adjacent villages and upazila headquarters will be snapped after the collapse of the rest of the road.
Furthermore, the unabated erosion by the river has been threatening to wash away a concrete bridge on the road at any time. The villagers now walk on foot on the road as no modes of vehicles can be used in the broken road.
A Farmer Ismail Miah of the village said he lost his entire homestead and one bigha of arable land in the river during the last two weeks. His other six bighas of cropland are also facing the risk of being engulfed.
Many of the farmers in the village made similar observations. They demanded immediate protection measures of the village from the river erosion.
Goral Union Parishad Chairman Nurul Amin said the officials of the upazila administration and Water Development Board (WDB) have visited the affected areas and assured the villagers to undertake effective measures soon to check the erosion.
Contacted, Kaliganj Upazila Chairman, Rakibuzzaman Ahamed said, they have almost completed all preparation from their end to reconstruct the road of the village and build protection measures to save the village.
“We also made contact with the concerned department in this regard, “he added
Lalmonirhat WDB Executive Engineer Sunil Kumar said, “The origin of Ratnai River which enters Bangladesh from west Bengal, India. Locals of Malgara village term it as the Malda River. Erosion has been found on the bank of the river in the post-flood situation. We have already dumped Geo bags initially on the bank of the river to stop erosion. We will start working soon on a massive scale to prevent erosion of the Malda River after receiving funds.”
