The Left Front staged a demonstration at the head office of the state irrigation and waterways department in Malda on Monday, alleging that the Trinamool-run government in Bengal failed to address the issue of river erosion and that some Trinamool leaders indulged in corruption in connivance with contractors engaged in anti-erosion work.

Left leaders and their supporters breached the police barricade set up in front of the state government office. A police officer got injured in the jostle. Left leaders said that two of their workers got injured.

“Trinamool leaders here are plundering money sanctioned for the prevention of erosion, while people are losing their homes and agricultural land. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased his visits to Bengal as the Assembly polls are ahead. He is talking on several issues but is surprisingly mute on something as prominent as erosion," said state CPM leader Shatarup Ghosh, who joined the protest.

Around 1pm, the Left Front took out a rally from near the Town Hall in Malda. The rally reached the office of the executive engineer of the irrigation and waterways department around 1.45pm.

Along with the Left supporters, some erosion victims from Ratua-I, Manikchak, and Kaliachak-III blocks, and the Bhutni islet of the district were there at the rally.

Ghosh, along with former state irrigation minister Subhash Naskar, CPM leader Zamir Molla, Malda district Left leaders Koushik Mishra, Babar Sarkar and Sarbananda Pandey led the march.

Soon, protesters reached the executive engineer’s office. The police tried to stop the rallyists at the entrance. The iron gates at the entrance were closed and additional barricades were placed behind.

Left workers started jostling with the police. With a huge push, the gates opened. The barricades were thrown aside, and the agitators barged into the office premises. They demonstrated there as a delegation went inside and submitted a memorandum.

After some time, protesters left the place.

Koushik Mishra, the Malda district CPM secretary, said two of their workers were injured.

On their demands, he said: "We have demanded that instead of putting sandbags, stone walls should be built to prevent erosion. Anti-erosion work has to be done in dry seasons and not during monsoons, and the homeless victims of erosion should be rehabilitated on the vacant land of the state irrigation department."

“We also want the state to publish a white paper on erosion and its effects. Funds sanctioned for anti-erosion work and utilisation statements have to be made public," he said.