Cong accuses Centre, state of ignoring riverbank erosion in Malda, Murshidabad
The Statesman | 13 August 2025
Senior Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) leader Soumya Aich Roy on Tuesday accused both Union and state governments of showing “recurrent apathy” toward large-scale riverbank erosion in Malda and Murshidabad districts, which has displaced thousands.
Mr Roy said that despite repeated pleas, neither the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre nor the state’s Trinamul Congress (TMC) administration had taken meaningful steps to protect vulnerable communities. “Our senior leader and former Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the erosion along the river Bhagirathi in Malda and Murshidabad a national disaster and release adequate funds. Even after sending a letter, there was no response from the Centre,” Roy told reporters.
Chowdhury has previously said that large stretches of fertile land have been lost to the Ganges in the two minority-dominated districts, rendering hundreds of thousands homeless and creating “neo-refugees.” He warned that loss of land and livelihoods was fuelling poverty and, in some cases, crime. Erosion along the Ganges and its tributaries has been a recurring problem in the region, destroying farmland, homes and infrastructure, and forcing repeated mass evacuations. Severe overnight erosion sweeps homes into Ganges in West Bengal; dozens displaced.
Several homes were swallowed by the Ganges in Murshidabad district after severe overnight erosion, forcing dozens of families to flee, local officials and residents said on Tuesday. The incident occurred late Monday in Samserganj’s Uttar Chachand and Madhya Chachand areas, where residents were asleep when a loud cracking sound alerted them to part of their houses collapsing into the river. Many escaped with only a few belongings, but cattle, trees and household goods were lost.
No casualties were reported, but hundreds of families remain at risk as riverbank cracks spread to nearby houses and a riverside temple. Officials said the Ganges water level at the Farakka Barrage was flowing 7.10 feet above the danger mark early Tuesday, with upstream levels at 80.10 feet and downstream at 78.95 feet. Authorities had begun public announcements on Monday night urging residents along the Ganges and Bagmari rivers to move to safer ground as floodwaters entered several villages. Relief teams have reached the affected areas, but residents have called for immediate, stronger intervention to prevent further damage. Erosion along the Ganges is a recurring threat in Samserganj, where homes, temples and farmland have been lost to the river in previous years.