Madhumati Erosion Swallows Homes and a Mosque in Narail's Amdanga, Locals Demand a Permanent Embankment

As the waters of the Madhumati River recede, extensive river erosion has appeared in Lohagara upazila of Narail. In the Amdanga area of Joypur Union, the homesteads of at least 20 families have been lost to the river in the erosion of the past few days.

During the monsoon season, more than a hundred homesteads, a mosque, several hundred acres of cropland and various other structures were lost to the Madhumati. The Water Development Board has tried to stop the erosion by temporarily dropping sandbags, but locals say it is having no effect.

Visiting the Amdanga area of Joypur Union on Friday (30 October) afternoon, erosion marks could be seen along the riverbank as far as the eye could go. The tops of coconut, betel nut and banana trees stood scattered in the river, swaying in the strong current.

All that remains as the last trace of the homesteads lost to the river are the yards of the settlements and some surrounding trees.

Affected schoolteacher Momtaz Begum said the sight of Madhumati erosion is all too familiar to the people of the Amdanga area. The intensity of the erosion increases whenever the monsoon arrives.

Momtaz Begum said that in a decade of continuous erosion, hundreds of acres of cropland, countless homesteads and structures have been lost to the river, leaving most people destitute. Every year when erosion intensifies, the Water Development Board tries to stop it with sandbags, but it does not work, she said.

Victim Ohidul Munshi of Amdanga village said his homestead was lost to the Madhumati during the monsoon season. His house has been broken twice in three years.

Ohidul Munshi added that this year the homesteads of at least fifty families in the area, like his own, have gone into the river. Despite repeated visits to the Water Development Board, no arrangement has been made for a permanent embankment, he said.

Insan Molla of the same village said everything he had, including his cropland and his home, was lost to the river this year. He is living in great hardship with his children.

Insan Molla said the village's one-storey mosque collapsed into the river before their eyes, but they could do nothing. There is currently no mosque in the area where people can pray.

Joypur Union Parishad Chairman S. M. Saiful Islam Sumon said several villages of the union have fallen victim to Madhumati erosion. Among them, most of Amdanga village has been lost to the river.

The chairman said the river erosion issue has been reported to administration officials at various times. He demanded the speedy construction of a permanent embankment in the affected area.

Narail Water Development Board Executive Engineer Avijit Kumar Saha said the intensity of erosion in the area increases as the Madhumati's water recedes during the monsoon season.

Avijit Kumar Saha added that a 1,700-metre permanent bank protection project has been formulated and a proposal sent to prevent erosion in the Amdanga area.