Families left with no roof over their head

On the bank of the Brahmaputra, 60-year-old Sekendar Ali had sown seeds of hope for his family, with just his own hands and a spade. But little did he know, the tides of the river had a different fate in store for him.

He went from a man who owned 10 bighas of arable land and a homestead of 15 decimals -- to a miser who now owns nothing due to river erosion.

Sekendar is a farmer from Charmantala who lives in a remote char area on the Brahmaputra riverbed in Chilmari upazila of Kurigram.

After losing everything, he and his family of five took shelter on the land of a relative in another char.

"After working day and night for 15 days straight, I was able to save the crops of 20-decimal land off the river bank. But even those parts may get devoured completely," he said, talking to this correspondent in the first week of January. 

Sekendar's only hope now is the 10-11 maunds of paddy that he could save from this land, which will feed his family for the time being.

Like Sekendar, around 180 families have been displaced, due to this river erosion. Their fates too hang in the balance as most of them have lost their homes.

Mansur Ali, 62, a farmer of the same char, said, "Even though we lived amid many struggles a few months ago, we at least had a roof over our heads. Now I have to fight for even a handful of food."

He and his three sons have ploughed 35 decimals of land on the riverbank with the sweat of their brows. They too fear that all their hard work will go down the river.

Mansur had already lost his 11 bighas of cultivable land and homestead. Like many, he and his family members took refuge in a relative's home in another char.

Contacted, Sanju Miah, a local union parishad member, said such gruesome pictures of hardship has become a common scenario in the chars.

He said so far government assistance in terms of food has been provided to the victims. About plans for their re-allocation, he said decisions are yet to be made in this regard.