Malda natives want steps to check erosion

Malda: People of Malda urged Mamata Banerjee to take proper initiatives to stop soil erosion along the banks of Ganges.

"We are living in fear. Last year, soil erosion in the Ganga caused havoc at Birnagar-I Panchayat in Kaliachak-III block. It engulfed over nearly 30 houses. We urge Mamata Banerjee to take immediate and proper measures to check soil erosion," said Samir Ghosh, a resident of Baishnabnagar in Kaliachak.

He reiterated that the river had swallowed a 250-metre stretch of concrete road in Durgaramtola village.

Between 1969 and 1999, over 4.5 lakh people were affected by left bank erosion of the Ganges in Malda district, upstream of the Farakka Barrage.

This apart, 22 mouzas in Manikchak, Kaliachak I and Kaliachak II CD blocks have gone into the river. Other affected areas are in Kaliachak III, Ratua I and Ratua II CD blocks.

"Soil erosion has been happening for the last 50 years," said Aslam resident of Malda's Purba Golkatola village, where Ganga flows through.

He reiterated that neither the Central government nor the state government has come up with an action plan to cease soil erosion in the region.