Anguished by recurrent flood-like conditions, a group of villagers — mostly women — from Tentulberia in Gaighata on Thursday stopped the convoy of North 24-Parganas district magistrate Sharad Kumar Dwivedi, demanding urgent dredging of the heavily silted Ichhamati.
The villagers alleged that the stretch of the river passing through their area has no capacity to retain water due to excessive siltation. They urged the DM to intervene immediately, stating they had been living in waterlogged conditions for months with only a brief period of respite. They alleged no visible sign of administrative action.
Nearly 100 women blocked the Sashadanga-Bilchaturia road at Tentulberia near Bongaon, having received prior information about the DM’s visit to the Bilchaturia flood relief camp. As Dwivedi stepped out of his vehicle, they stood before him with folded hands, pleading for immediate measures to clear the silt.
“Sir, we don’t want any help or compensation from the government. Just take immediate steps to remove the silt from the Ichhamati riverbed — it is now a question of our survival,” said homemaker Priyanka Mondal, echoing the collective desperation
of villagers.
Villagers claimed that large swathes of Ramnagar adjacent to the Ichhamati have been submerged for months, bringing daily life to a standstill. Roads remain under waist-deep water, making vehicular movement impossible and forcing residents to transport patients to hospitals on boats or even makeshift banana rafts, they said.
They warned that without immediate desiltation, the region would continue to remain waterlogged throughout the year, with access to schools, markets and basic amenities cut off.
The crisis began in early March, when the first spell of rain hit the region. Villages under Ramnagar gram panchayat were quickly inundated. Overflowing river water engulfed roads, farmlands, homes, shops and schools. Farms went underwater, severely impacting agriculture.
Speaking to the DM, the villagers demanded that dredging work be undertaken specifically from Kalanchi Ghat to Gopalpur Ghat. “This stretch is the most vulnerable now. Every year nature strikes in its own way, but the administration continues to ignore our plight. This year, repeated spells of rain have worsened the situation,” Priyanka said.
Accusing the state government of apathy, villager Archana Ghosh said: “Every year we get assurances, but nothing happens.... We’re not asking for compensation — we just want the silt cleared. We lose our crops every year. If this continues, we
won’t survive.”
“The root of our problem lies in the heavily silted Ichhamati riverbed. Silt accumulation has drastically reduced the river’s depth. Even minor rainfall causes the river to overflow, leading to chronic waterlogging,” said another villager.
Dwivedi assured the protesters that dredging work had begun. “Dredging work has started in a stretch that includes the affected area. Hopefully, there will be no problems next year,” he said.
Sources said that last year the administration began clearing silt from a 2km stretch of the Ichhamati riverbed between Charghat and Sarapool.
Bongaon SDO Urmi De Biswas confirmed that a new work order was issued last month. “Field work is yet to be executed, which could have helped avert this situation. Unfortunately, the work won’t be over before monsoon-end. However, the entire vulnerable stretch is included in the current work order. We are hopeful that villagers won’t face the same problem next year,” she said.
