Malda: With no govt help land erosion victims struggle to sustain life

Scores of villagers from Par-Anupnagar, who lost their homes to a land erosion along the river Ganga in 2017 are irked over not receiving any sort of compensatory relief from the government.

Around 400 odd families have shifted to Par-Lalpur, situated on the river bank in Malda district, which is a kilometre away from Par-Anupnagar while few of them migrated to Delhi in search of livelihood and started working as daily labourers. Others in the village mostly work as fishermen and women concentrate on making 'beedi'. However, constant river bank erosion along the Ganga is still one of the major concerns for the villagers of Par-Lalpur and the adjacent villages.

Speaking to ANI, Dipali Choudhury, one of the victims, who lost everything in the erosion said, "We are somehow staying in a makeshift shelter from the past three years. We have not received a single help from the government. The administration neither provided food nor tarpaulin. If not government, then who will listen to our woes ?." Besides, the lack of clean drinking water and toilets is putting women's safety at risk.

"We are going through really tough days. We neither have a tubewell nor place to defecate, forget about earning a proper income! Are we citizens of India ?," said Dyuti Choudhury, another victim. People of the adjacent villages are also scared that in the upcoming monsoon season, the adjacent villages might be affected too due to lack of adequate measure.

Believing that there is an emergency situation in the country, Laxman Sarkar, a resident of Par-Lalpur village said, "There is an emergency situation in the country. We went for help from door to door but no one came forward to help. Block Development Officer visited this village once in 2017 and gave us an assurance but never kept his words."

(With inputs from agencies.)