The eroded banks of the Brahmaputra. File picture

Dhubri, June 25: The waters of the Brahmaputra and Dudhnoi have eroded vast areas of cultivable land and homesteads in Goalpara and continue to pose a threat to the people, largely unattended to by the government.

In 2010, villagers of Jaleswar in Goalpara district had come together to protect the area from erosion in the absence of the government action.

Nearly 20 villages got together to form an organisation to save the area from erosion.

Ansar Ali Sheikh from Jaleswar said the organisation collected bamboo, bags and wires from the villages and implemented anti-erosion measures, which are still withstanding the onslaught of the rivers.

Sheikh, while expressing resentment over the indifferent attitude of the government to protect the area, said they had been able to check erosion in 30 villages.

The president of the organisation, Brahmaputra Nadi Sthayee Protirodh Sangram Samiti, Alhaz Abdul Samad, said though erosion in Jaleswar could have been arrested but erosion along the upstream areas of the Brahmaputra at Beelpara has started again.

“Many parts of Goalpara along the south bank are on the brink of a disaster in the absence of steps to check the erosion,” Samad said.

The state government recently approved three anti-erosion schemes, which are likely to be implemented after the monsoon, an official source in Goalpara said.

The three anti-erosion projects — the construction of a 33.94km long retirement bund-cum-dyke from Balikuchi to Beldubi (Jaleswar) estimated at Rs 50.05 crore, construction of a 13.46km long retirement bund-cum-dyke and 11.55 km from Kharmuza to Balikuchi in Soulmari area estimated at Rs 35.88 crore and channeling of river Brahmaputra along with reclaiming eroded land estimated at Rs 44.77 crore, were cleared by the state government advisory board and sent to Brahmaputra Board for sanctioning of funds, an official source said.

Assistant executive engineer of the Goalpara water resource department, Suleman Ali Ahmed, said erosion at Beelpara in the upstream from Jaleswar continues to create problems.

Another anti-erosion project for the Dudhnoi was also submitted where serious threat posed to human habitation and need to be protected.

“We are waiting for the funds to be released. The work will then be taken up on a war footing,” Ahmed said.