The protesters in front of the executive engineer’s office. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, July 25: Residents of lower Bhanunagar today gheraoed the executive engineer of the Siliguri irrigation division, demanding immediate steps to stop erosion of the banks of the Mahananda.

The river has already washed away 25 houses and at least 200 more are under threat, the residents claimed. Lower Bhanunagar is located in Ward 43 of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation.

More than 300 people, under the banner of the local units of the CPM and its youth wing, the DYFI, laid siege to executive engineer Ranjit Kumar Saha’s office around noon today. The agitation was lifted after Saha promised to visit their villages and assess the situation, which he did right away.

“A 300m stretch on the left bank of the Mahananda has been damaged by erosion and temporary protection measures will cost around Rs 5-7 lakh,” said the executive engineer after the recce.

Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority has agreed to help the irrigation department carry out the anti-erosion work.