The Erosion of River Ganges in Malda District : A Report.
A Report on Erosion in the River Ganges in Malda District.
The Erosion of River Ganges in Malda District : A Report.
The monsoon has a special feature in North Bengal, especially in Malda district. That form is much more terrible. In order to realize the rainy season Malda, which is out of sight of poets, tourists or city dwellers who are fascinated by the delicious hilsa of Ganga-Padma in the endless stream of Ashar-Shravan, we have to look towards river erosion here and especially towards erosion of Ganga river.
In 1998, three months of continuous floods in Malda destroyed property worth about 878.58 crore. Thousands of people have lost their homes and become Internally Displaced Persons. In the last three decades of the twentieth century (1989-1999), about 4.5 lakh people were affected by the erosion of the left bank of the Ganges in Malda district.
But the problem did not end there. River erosion from the ‘’ Bhutni ‘’ region of Malda district to Kaliachak has caused extensive damage year after year. Hundreds of acres of land in Ratua, Manikchak, English Bazar, Vaishnava Nagar, Motha Bari and Kaliachak areas have been washed away by the river Ganges.
A survey by the Ganges Erosion Prevention Action Citizens Committee found that 750 sq km of Kaliachak and Manikchak had been damaged. The demolition affected 60 primary schools and 14 high schools in the region. Year after year, about 40,000 families have been affected by the erosion of the Ganges.
Displaced people of Kakribona, Zhaobona, Gopalpur and Rahimpur gram panchayats of Kaliachak No. 2 block affected by the erosion of the Ganges have formed 'Ganga Erosion Prevention Citizens Committee' to alleviate their crisis. This committee has been trying to get the attention of the government for decades. Residents of villages submerged in the Ganges are losing agricultural land and migrating to foreign countries in the hope of earning a living.
In 2016, floods started in the northwestern part of Malda (mainly Ratua No. 1 and Ratua No. 2 block). During 2016-17, many acres of land in Mahananda Tola, Bilaimari and Mahan Tola areas have been washed away by the river. In the rainy season of 2021, the erosion in Manikchak region has again taken a terrible form. Many villages are gradually being wiped off the map as a result of erosion in the Ganges. The number of people displaced by the crisis is increasing.
