kchak (West Bengal), Aug 25 (ANIA swollen River Ganga is devouring its embankment and displacing residents of hundreds of villages along its course in West Bengal.
Manikchak (West Bengal), Aug 25 : A swollen River Ganga is devouring its embankment and displacing residents of hundreds of villages along its course in West Bengal.
Several villages in Malda District in northern West Bengal are being threatened by massive erosion due to the heavy rains and rising floodwater levels.
Manikchak village is one such village where large chunks of land have been washed away.
"Whatever land we had, it has been eroded by the Ganges. Now, even our house is in danger of being uprooted. Every year, thousands of houses are lost to erosion," said Nakul Mondal, a villager.
Chittaranjan Das, the District Magistrate of Malda, blamed the Farakka Barrage Project for the Centre's failure in taking preventive steps.
West Bengal falls in the eastern Gangetic belt and the rich alluvial soil is prone to erosion.
Flooding is a perennial problem in the area as the heavy discharge from the snow-fed rivers from the upper reaches of Nepal adds to the problem.
ANI