2 Barisal villages disappear in Meghna within week

Furious Meghna devouring villages one after another in Mehendiganj (left) and people made shelterless by the river under the open sky near the river bank (right). Photo: Star

Scores of people are coming from different areas to see the unprecedented erosion that washed away at least 900 houses and 300 acres of land.

According to local administration, Union Parishad members and the victims, Nalgora and Goalgar villages in Gobindapur union under Mehendiganj upazila disappeared into the mighty river due to strong current.

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The devoured lands include 200 acres of betel nut garden and 100 acres of cropland.

Once well-to-do farmers, the homeless people are now pauper and at the mercy of others, seeking relief.

At least 290 houses of Bepari Bari, 75 of Dhali Bari, 120 of Howlader Bari, 30 of Mianji Bari, 40 of Abedin Bari, 52 of Majhi Bari, 200 of Lal Colony, 150 of Sheikh Colony and many houses of Sarkar Bari, Dafader Bari, Ullah Bari have been washed away.

Tentulia Government Primary School is under water and the Meghna is only 200 yards off the Kaliganj bazaar. The bazaar will be washed away within a week, local people said.

A Qawmi madrassah, several mosques and another primary school in the area are threatened, they said.

Fishermen Abul Hossain, farmer Siraj Pahlowan, boatmen Idris Majhi, Dulal, Baset, housewife Noorjahan and many other victims said they became homeless more than once in recent years due to river erosion but received no relief from the government or any NGO.

The victims have demanded their permanent rehabilitation elsewhere.

The homeless people have taken shelter on roads, embankments and at educational institutions and are without food, drinking water and other basic necessaries. They have no work.

Mehendiganj UNO Md Helal Uddin and upazila BNP president Syed Rafiqul Islam Labu visited the area and distributed some money among the victims.