More than one hundred houses along with homesteads were eroded by the river
Madhumati of Chitalmari Upazila in the district during the last few months.
As a result more than one hundred families were rendered homeless. Members of most
of the homeless families are now living in the open skies in deplorable conditions and
passing their days in starvation and semi starvation. Many of them became completely
destitute.
Besides this, several hundred acres of cultivable lands and a number of mosques and
village hats and bazars were also eroded by the river.
River Madhumati is eroding many dwelling houses of villages Shyldah, Chinguri and
Paranpur within Barbaria and Kalatala unions of the Upazila are on the verge of erosion
by the strong current of the river Madhumati.
Titu Biswas, Nur-e-Alam, Zafar Fakir Abul Shaikh, Belayaet Shaikh, Toyab Ali, Aswab
Shaikh, Mohammad Ali and many others of village Paranpur told this correspondent that
more than 50 dwelling houses along with homesteads of the village were washed away by
Mahumati during the last one or two months. Shyadha village market may be engulfed by
the river Mahumati at any moment.
The local people complained that the erosion of the river Madhumati turned serious a few
years ago, but no satisfactory step was taken from any quarters to check it.
The people of the affected villages added that powerful and influential people of Patgati
and Tungipara under Gopalganj district, villages on the other side of the river are illegally
collecting sands from the river illegally with dredgers.
Not only that but also they forcibly occupied the alluvial lands on the other bank of the
river where they established brick fields and other enterprises illegally. As a result, the
erosion of the river turned furious and Paranpur and its adjacent villages under Chitalmari
Upazila are the easy victims of the erosion.
The matter was brought to the notice of the higher authorities, bun no step was taken
from any quarter so far, Lulu Bilkis Banu. Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Chitalmari said that
she had already visited the eroded area of Chitalmari Upazila and informed the concerned
department to take necessary steps in favour of the affected people. –Our Correspondent,
Bagerhat
