The Ghaghat river, which winds through Sadullapur upazila of Gaibandha, has surged with days of heavy rain, and the strengthened current has set off fierce erosion along the banks. Houses are collapsing into the water, leaving many families along the river homeless and struggling to get by.
A visit to Sheet Jamudanga (Munshipara) in Damodarpur union of Sadullapur upazila in Gaibandha showed scenes of severe erosion along the Ghaghat. Several houses and stretches of cropland have already vanished into the river, and more homes are at risk.
Residents said the continuous rains of recent days raised the river’s level and intensified the current, triggering the ongoing erosion at Sheet Jamudanga Munshipara. The river has already taken the homes of Jahurul, Sada, Mukul, Machkut, Mostofa and several others, who have moved elsewhere for shelter.
The houses of Azizul, Anwarul, Phul Mia, Neel Mia and Shahidul are now threatened by the recent erosion. Their ancestral homes could fall into the river at any moment, residents said. Bamboo groves and cropland belonging to many others have also disappeared.
Some of those displaced have taken shelter on the embankment or with relatives, while others have started camping on land that is not theirs. The affected families are at a loss, residents said, and no government or private aid has reached them so far.
The erosion at Sheet Jamudanga (Munshipara) is not new, residents said. They have repeatedly raised it with the Water Development Board and other authorities, with no result. A plan to place geo-bags two years ago was never implemented, they said, and they are now calling for urgent action.
Neel Mia, one of those who lost his home, said through tears that he had been scraping by against poverty when the Ghaghat took his house. “I am living with my wife and children in a wretched state. Without government help, life is unbearable,” he said.
Sadullapur upazila nirbahi officer Mahmud Hasan could not be reached for comment.
Shariful Islam, executive engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board in Gaibandha, said the affected area had already been inspected. “A report has been submitted and a DO letter sent to the local lawmaker. We will move quickly once the funds are allocated,” he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report