Though the monsoon is yet to set in, river erosion in Kurigram’s Jatrapur has already taken a destructive turn due to the incessant rain and gushing water from the nearby hills.
South and North Garuhara areas of Jatrapur are the worst affected as villagers are fast losing homesteads and farmlands due to the erosion.
The erosion is caused by the Dudhkumar River, which runs through the Jatrapur union. The river has been swelling for the last few weeks causing strong and swirling waves.
The area between Begumganj and Jatrapur union is witnessing a massive destruction as the river is engulfing about 200 metre of land per hour, according to the locals.
Hundreds of people living in these areas are scared that the erosion may turn deadly if no measure is taken. Villagers were seen to moving away from the banks.
Korban Ali, 75, of north Garuhara said he had not seen such devastating erosion in his life. “The river bank is vanishing in the twinkling of an eye taking our homes and lands. If no action is taken, this whole area will go into water soon.”
Villagers Shahadat Hossain Master and Somed Ali said the erosion had been going on for the last two years. Their repeated appeal to the Water Development Board (WDB) fell on deaf ears, they alleged.
Seeing no hopes, Abul Kashem, Sekendar Ali and Golap Hossain are shifting their houses to a different location. Others who are also facing the same situation said they had no place to go.
Deputy Assistant Engineer of WDB Mahibur Islam said: “The erosion of Dudhkumar river has become severe recently. We are working on the 500 metre area of the river bank. But the work should be done within a thousand metre area.”
He further said they had sent a proposal to the ministry but it had not been approved yet.
Chairman of Jatrapur Union, Abdur Gafur said about 2,500 families had become victims of river erosion in the last two years.
“We have done many rallies, processions and programmes to draw the authority’s attention. But we got no help. We took an initiative to build bamboo embankment on our own.”
“We built bamboo piling spars and dumped sand bags voluntarily along the erosion points but it did not last for long. We request the government to urgently build concrete embankment to save our land and homes,” he said.