Nadia riverbank erosion destroyed at least a dozen houses belonging to 10 families at Shrirampur village on Wednesday night, forcing residents to flee as nearly 300 metres of the Hooghly riverbank collapsed during heavy rain.
Shrirampur falls under the Gayeshpur gram panchayat in Santipur block. The erosion began around 8pm and rapidly consumed pucca and mud houses, trees and other structures. Residents escaped with their lives but left behind household belongings, books and documents, including land records, voter identity cards, ration cards and Aadhaar cards.
“The erosion was so sudden and rapid that saving our own lives became more important than anything else,” a woman resident told The Telegraph. Another eyewitness said houses collapsed one after another and disappeared into the river.
Homemaker Jogmaya Mridanga said residents were first alerted when a tree fell on the riverbank. “Then, the erosion tore into 300 metres inland so fast that we could not save anything,” she said.
Villagers also evacuated a pregnant woman from a house that was already crumbling. The structure collapsed into the river within seconds after she was moved to safety.
Residents said riverbank erosion has become an annual problem in the area. They alleged that the administration’s protective measures, including sandbags placed below bamboo structures, had not prevented repeated damage. Elderly resident Kalipada Mullick said permanent protective work could have saved the houses but had not been carried out.
The destruction at Shrirampur reflects a recurring risk across parts of southern Bengal, including Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia. The report attributed the wider vulnerability to the absence of sustained riverbed dredging and permanent bank-protection measures, leaving settlements close to the river exposed when erosion accelerates.
The immediate challenge for the affected families is not limited to the loss of housing. Their identity documents, land records and household possessions were also swept away, potentially complicating access to welfare benefits, housing assistance and proof of residence. The incident also shows how quickly riverbank failure can turn into a displacement emergency, leaving little time for evacuation or salvage.
Santipur panchayat samiti deputy chief Chanchal Chakraborty said the affected families would receive new houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas scheme. He said a resident whose under-construction house under the Bengal Awas Yojana was destroyed after the second instalment had been paid would also receive a new house. Jobs would be arranged for other affected residents under the 125-day job scheme, he said.
Chakraborty also said protective work would be undertaken soon. He alleged that funds meant for protective work had been misused during the previous Trinamool Congress regime, a political claim that was not independently established in the report.
Santipur block development officer Sabyasachi Roy visited the affected residents. He said the victims would be rehabilitated with new houses and that riverbank protection work would be undertaken in consultation with the irrigation department.
The next steps are the rehabilitation of the displaced families and the planned consultation between the local administration and the irrigation department on protective work along the damaged bank.
