Villagers wade through the Ganga water. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, Sept. 9: The raging Ganga today swept away two villages within three hours of breaking banks at Panchanandapur.

District magistrate Ashok Bala said the crisis could escalate once the floodwaters started receding.

“It will be a tough job to fight the erosion once the water begins to recede. We have started repairing the embankments. Relief materials have been despatched to the flood-hit people. Those displaced have been provided shelter,” he said.

Executive engineer of the irrigation department Pundarikaksha Roy, who arrived at the erosion spot soon after the villages were swept away, said: “I have never seen such an terrible erosion. The misery and the helplessness of these villagers have to be seen to be believed.”

The hungry river had gobbled up the irrigation department’s bungalow, the Ganga Bhavan, last Friday.

The Ganga is currently flowing almost 30 cm above the extreme danger level at Panchanandapur.

According to irrigation department officials, the river could continue to swell for another few days.

“But we do not apprehend any threat to Malda town because of the erosion. The breaches through which the floodwater had entered the town have been sealed,” the executive engineer said.

As the waters rushed menacingly towards the marketplace of Panchanandapur, a village mosque issued a warning over the microphone asking people to evacuate homes.

Kedar Mondal of Panchanandapur said: “The river is in a devastating mood today. I saw one of the village mosques disappear in the water within seconds. We are evacuating as fast as possible.”

Many villagers were forced had to leave without any belonging. “As soon as I got the news of the villages being washed away I started removing the tiles from the roof of my house. I could not do much since the water had already started approaching. I only managed to get out a cot,” said Murshed Ali of Balutola.

According to official sources, the low-lying areas were inundated since Monday night when the water level had crossed the extreme danger level.

The worst hit is Manikchak block with nearly 50,000 people flooded out of their homes.

The overflowing river has flooded three other gram panchayats in the Bhutni island.

Block development officer of Manikchak Abhijit Mukherjee said at least 16 villages in Bhutni island were waist-deep in water. Those marooned on embankments have demanded small boats to move out.

“But where do I get so many boats? The relief materials, however, have reached the flood-hit villagers. There was a dearth of tarpaulin sheets. But we have managed to get 1,000 tarpaulin sheets,” said Mukherjee.