Cooch Behar: “We don’t want Lakshmi Bhandar. If possible, cut that and make arrangements for a river embankment.” With this outcry, residents of Dwarikamari village in Dinhata Block I voiced their frustration over the unchecked erosion of the Bura Dharla River.
Villagers are demanding the immediate construction of a dam in the Chota Nachina area, saying their farmland and homes are being steadily swallowed by the swelling river. Despite repeated appeals to the block and Gram Panchayat administrations, no concrete steps have been taken, they allege. The situation has worsened in recent months, with the only road to the village now lost to the river. “During the last Lok Sabha elections, the MP and other leaders had promised that an embankment would be built. But nothing has been done. Several bighas of farmland and many houses have already disappeared into the river this year,” said residents Archana Barman and Atul Ray. They warned that unless the project begins soon, villagers would protest if public representatives return to campaign in the next elections.
Responding to the issue, local MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia said: “The matter is under our attention. This work will be done as soon as possible.” Meanwhile, the BJP has attacked the ruling Trinamool Congress over the crisis. Cooch Behar district secretary Ajay Roy alleged: “Trinamool can only make promises, but they fail to deliver.”
Thousands in the Dwarikamari-Chota Nachina belt now remain on edge, waiting to see whether the embankment will ever be built before more land and livelihoods are lost to the river.