River erosion leaves thousands destitute in north, WDB says no funds for protection

Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Rangpur districts are facing severe river erosion that has left thousands of families homeless, while authorities admit they lack funds to take emergency protection measures.

"River erosion is making us destitute. Please save us, please protect us. Everything we had is gone. No one is looking after us. Where will we go? Who will shelter us?"—cried 55-year-old Tarabanu Begum of Char Gorokmondol in Kurigram's Phulbari upazila.

Her family has already lost four bighas of cropland to the Dharla river. Now, their homestead of just six decimals is under direct threat.

"If our house goes into the river, we will have to live under trees. Dharla has devoured the rest of our lands," she said in tears.

Across Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, and Rangpur, thousands of families face the same fate.

According to the Water Development Board (WDB), severe erosion is currently active at 120 points, including 69 in Kurigram, 37 in Lalmonirhat, and 14 in Rangpur—along the Brahmaputra, Dharla, Dudhkumar, Teesta, and Ratnai rivers. Homesteads, croplands, and infrastructures in erosion-hit areas continue to be engulfed by the womb of the river.

Erosion victims allege that despite repeated appeals, WDB has taken no visible steps to protect them.

'Just in the past week, erosion-hit families staged 10 human chains across Kurigram. Yet no effective measures are being taken. At this rate, another 1,000 families will lose their homes within a week and be forced to live on embankments and roads," said Prof Shafiqul Islam Bebu, convener of Kurigram Char Development Committee.

District administrations and relief and rehabilitation offices said, around 1,750 families lost their homesteads to erosion from January to July this year, receiving only small cash grants and corrugated sheets as relief. Between August 17 and 25 alone, another 450 homesteads and 550 bighas of farmland were swallowed by the rivers. Over 4,000 families now remain at risk.

Lalmonirhat WDB Executive Engineer Shunil Kumar admitted there is no allocation for emergency protection works. "We have written to the higher authorities for funds," he told The Daily Star.

Kurigram WDB Executive Engineer Rakibul Hasan echoed him, saying, "Erosion has intensified at several points along the Teesta and Dudhkumar. People are coming to us every day. We have informed higher officials. However, we cannot take immediate action without funds."