Erosion by the Madhumati river has swallowed the government Ashrayan project and cluster village at Chapulia in Tagarband union of Alfadanga upazila, Faridpur. Having lost their last possessions to the river, many families are now living in the open.

The cluster village was built in the 2011-12 financial year on government khas land at Chapulia for 130 families. At the time the river was about a kilometre away; once the Madhumati began eroding in 2021, the project's houses went into it one by one. Many of the residents had been landless and homeless before; the shelter the government gave them is gone, and they are now staying with relatives, beside the road or under the open sky.

Residents blame years of illegal and unplanned sand extraction from the Madhumati, which they say has shifted the river's course and created a powerful current that made the erosion severe. A human chain and procession were held on the riverbank last Saturday at the call of local youth Akib Ahmed; speakers said dredger operators from neighbouring Lohagara upazila in Narail have been lifting sand illegally for a long time. Their demands are three: stop the illegal dredging, build a permanent river protection embankment, and resettle the affected families quickly.

Tagarband union parishad chairman Mia Asaduzzaman said helpless people have watched their homes disappear before their eyes and need emergency government help and resettlement. Mojibar Rahman, sub-divisional engineer of the Faridpur Water Development Board, said a project has been taken up to protect the area, a study report has been sent, and action will follow quickly.

Professor Dr Ilias Molla, member of parliament for Faridpur-1, said effective steps to stop illegal sand extraction will be taken quickly in consultation with the local administration. The affected residents say temporary relief is not enough: an embankment to stop the Madhumati permanently and an effective resettlement effort are what is needed.

A settlement a kilometre from the river vanishing into it within a decade shows that managing sand leases is not just a revenue question — it decides whether riverside farmland and villages survive.

Source: banglanews24