River erosion: State provides Rs 3.3 cr to start work in Itahar

Raiganj: With the initiative of Musaraf Hossain, MLA of Itahar, erosion protection work at the bank of Mahananda River around 1 km from Lalganj to Gosaipur in Gulandar -1 Gram Panchayat under Itahar Police Station areas of North Dinajpur pur district started at last.

The boulder piling work for river bank protection was inaugurated in the afternoon on Thursday. The work will be done with Rs 3.3 crore fund provided by the state Irrigation department.

Sofiqul Alam, a resident of Gosaipur said: “Numerous houses and agricultural fields of Lalganj, Gosaipur, Madhabpur and Churaman villages in Gulandar-1 washed away for the erosion of Mahananda River in around last 30 years. Chanchal-Itahar State Highway which passes close to the bank of the Mahananda River was also in a dire state. Last year we met our Itahar MLA Musaraf Hossain and urged him to start river bank protection work to save the villages. At last, the erosion protection work has been started. We are happy with this work.”

Musaraf Hossain, MLA Itahar, said: “Mahananda River already has eaten up more than one hundred houses, vast agricultural fields and some mosques in the villages of Gulandar –1, Surun-1, Marnai and Kapasia Gram Panchayats in last thirty years. Erosion took a serious turn on the 1 km stretch of river bank from Lalganj to Gosaipur. The situation was brought to the notice of the state government. Then the state irrigation department allotted Rs 3.3 crore for this river erosion protection. The boulder piling work at the river bank from Lalganj to Gosaipur started on Thursday. The agency was told to complete the work before the start of the monsoon.”