Relentless erosion by the Sugandha River is swallowing villages in Jhalakathi’s Nalchity Upazila, leaving hundreds of families homeless and, in some cases, without land even to bury their dead.
Residents say more than 10 villages have been partially washed away over the past several decades, destroying homes, farmland, orchards and ancestral graveyards, while they accuse authorities of failing to implement permanent erosion control measures.
“My husband’s grave has already been swallowed by the river. Now we worry where we will bury our loved ones when they die,” said 70-year-old Maksuda Begum of Soroi village in Kulkathi Union.
She said her family’s ancestral home was first lost to erosion. Her sons later built another house further inland, but that too disappeared into the river along with their remaining land and trees. The family now lives in a small house on someone else’s land.
According to local residents, erosion has affected extensive areas of more than 10 villages, including Baraikaran, Soroi, Timirkathi, Darirchar, Khojakhali, Mallikpur, Sikderpara, Baharampur, Shatpakia, Kathipara and Anurag. Baraikaran, Soroi, Khojakhali, Darirchar, Timirkathi and Sikderpara have suffered the worst damage.
Rashid Molla of Soroi village said the erosion had continued for nearly 50 years without any effective long-term intervention.
He said hundreds of families had lost their homes, betel leaf plantations, trees and property worth crores of taka during that time.
Hepy Begum, whose house now stands on the edge of the river, said she lived in constant fear that her home could collapse at any moment.
“Every day I fear the house will disappear into the river. I do not know where I will go with my children,” she said.
Yusuf Hawlader of Kathipara village in Magar union said the village once had between 20 and 30 families, but only two or three now remained.
“We are not asking for relief. We only want the river erosion to stop,” he said.
Jamal Fakir of Soroi village said his ancestral homestead now lay beneath the river and that even the new house he built was no longer safe.
Retired tahsildar Haji Abdul Haque Talukdar said launches now sailed where numerous houses once stood, while the river was steadily advancing towards his own home.
Soroi Union parishad member Bellal Hossain Molla said many residents had lost the last traces of their ancestral homesteads.
He said the union parishad had repeatedly informed the Bangladesh Water Development Board about the erosion, but no permanent solution had yet been implemented.
AKM Niloy Pasha, executive engineer of the Jhalakathi Water Development Board, said a riverbank protection project was under implementation in erosion-prone areas of Jhalakathi and Nalchity.
He said preliminary surveys had also been completed in other vulnerable locations and preventive measures would be taken once the proposed projects received approval.
Residents along the river said they no longer wanted assurances but immediate and effective river training works, warning that while homes could be rebuilt, ancestral graves, memories and family roots lost to the river could never be recovered.
