Some 36 families in Dhulian, a municipal town in Murshidabad’s Samserganj, turned homeless owing to erosion in the Ganga on Monday.

Six houses so far have been swept away by the erosion that started three days ago. Apart from the six houses lost, 30 more are endangered. A 300-metre-long road made by the municipality is also gone. Lalpur and Raiganj, in the municipality, are the worst affected.

The administration has sheltered homeless residents at a local primary school. Those whose houses are on the verge of being swept away have moved to safer places with whatever they could salvage. People dismantled their houses to take away doors, window panes and bricks with the hope that they would need them to build new homes.

Asharul Seikh, who lost his house, said he had built his home only three years ago.

He jas no hope of building another. “I’d toiled hard to build this house. Now all of it is gone. I’ll never be able to make another. I don’t even have any land left. My family will have to live on the streets now,” Seikh said.

For erosion victim Badal Singha, Durga Puja is ruined. “Saving our lives is most important now. The erosion started three days before Durga Puja. Festivities for us have become a joke,” Singha said.

He added he had been living in the area for around 40 years and seen erosion earlier as well, but nothing of this sort. Local sources said this was the first time in years that the Samserganj area had seen such devastating erosion.

At present, two of the most endangered buildings are a mosque and the government-aided Amanat Memorial Primary School.

“I’ve asked the BDO to provide temporary assistance like tarpaulin and food to people who have lost homes. The irrigation department has also been asked to arrange temporary prevention against erosion,” said Sharad Kumar Dwivedi, district magistrate, Murshidabad.