West Bengal: Severe River Erosion Hits Malda And Murshidabad
The Ganges River has been eroding vast stretches of land, including agricultural fields, mango orchards, and human settlements.
Published : October 9, 2025 at 3:34 PM IST
Malda: The protracted issue of erosion along the River Ganga continues to haunt hundreds of residents in West Bengal's Malda and Murshidabad.
The Ganges, which flows through both districts, has been eroding vast stretches of land for decades, swallowing agricultural fields, mango orchards, and human settlements. Instead of creating new land, the river continues to consume the existing terrain.
An entire gram panchayat in Malda’s Kaliachak Block-II has already been wiped out by the river’s onslaught. Five more gram panchayats under Manikchak and Ratua-I blocks are on the verge of being wiped out. In Murshidabad, large portions of the Farakka and Shamsherganj blocks are already submerged.
Meanwhile, from October 4, heavy rainfall suddenly started in different parts of the state. Following this, the water of the Ganges started rising. Due to the rise and fall of water levels, severe river erosion started in Uttar Chachand village of Samserganj.
On late Monday night, the century-old Chachand Kali temple was submerged and washed away in the river due to severe erosion of the riverbank.
Samserganj Block Development Officer (BDO) Sujit Chandra Lodh said, "Several metres of the area have gone into the Ganges due to the erosion on Monday night. The ancient Kali temple could not be saved. Discussions are underway with the irrigation department to save the remaining part of the Ganges. The villagers have been asked to be careful."
However, the locals are peeved with the administration and claim that the Ganges started eroding the banks of the village a month ago. They alleged that they appealed to the administration several times to save the temple, but no concrete action was taken. The locals have demanded permanent measures to prevent the erosion.
Meanwhile, the water level of the Ganges has been stabilised since Wednesday. At 8 am, the water level was 24.18 metres, 51 centimetres below the danger level of 24.69 metres.
According to the Irrigation Department, if no more water comes down from the upper catchment, there is a possibility of the water level decreasing from Thursday.
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