Dhemaji, July 18: When Samuel Beckett visualised Vladimir and Estragon in a maze of timelessness waiting for Godot, he could well have been prescient about a corner of Assam far from his shores. For the people of Sengajan in Dhemaji district are waiting endlessly for an end to erosion by the Brahmaputra.

"On November 17, 2014, the then Lakhimpur MP Sarbananda Sonowal had assured us that work will be undertaken to check erosion. He became chief minister in 2016 but we are still leading a nomadic life," said Bhairab Namasudra of Sengajan. The Brahmaputra has engulfed a 4km area, including two lower primary schools, leaving 400 families distraught.

The erosion by the Red River and its tributaries has become a regular feature in Assam. Villagers in Upper Assam's Majuli, Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts residing on the bank of rivers stay alert year after year for flood-triggered tragedies.

This year, the Brahmaputra and its tributaries have engulfed nearly 130 houses in Dhemaji, more than 300 in Lakhimpur and 200 in Majuli, according to locals. Agricultural land has been damaged and livestock washed away.

"We do not know which party to believe. Every one who wins the election assures to solve the erosion problem," said Anoj Narjary of Sengajan, who lost everything in the floods of 1996, and has settled in Simenchapori where the government provided land in a reserve forest for temporary camps. Simenchapori has turned into a village but is also facing the threat of erosion by the Simen.

Dakhinpat Xatra of Majuli is also facing the threat of massive erosion just 200 metres from the Bechamara-Haladhibari dyke.

Villagers offered prayers and threw branches in the Brahmaputra today, sources said.

Majuli deputy commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha said, "We are trying to carry out protection work with whatever resources we have. The problem needs long-term measures, proper planning."

Residents of Naoboicha in Lakhimpur alleged that repairing of the dyke of the Singara was to be completed before the monsoon but was delayed. In the last two years, the Subansiri has rendered 50 families homeless in Boginadi panchayat.

According to official data, Rs 4,459.39 crore was provided for repairing 295 of the 493 embankments across Assam but the Central Water Commission is yet to release funds.

Lakhimpur district Congress president Joy Prakash Das said the Neepco's hydroelectric project in Yajuli in Arunachal Pradesh over the Ranganadi posed a threat to people downstream in Lakhimpur and Majuli.