Rani Mandal of Natun Shibpur village in Samserganj block, Murshidabad district, had gone to take a bath in the river, when she noticed it swirling menacingly. She had been living in the region long enough to know what that foretold, and she rushed back to her home by the waterfront, but it was already too late. A video shot by a neighbour showed her house being swallowed by the river—like a mythical monster devouring its prey. It all happened so fast that Rani just about managed to drag her bed to safety; everything else she owned went into the river.
On July 29, the erosion of the riverbank by the Ganga in the Samserganj region swept away at least 10 houses, rendering more than 60 people destitute. Since 2020, the people of Samserganj have been living in terror of the river, which has been changing its course and claiming hundreds of houses, orchards, and farmlands that fall in its way. This time, the toll was comparatively less, people said. “There have been times when more than a hundred dwellings were lost to the river in one fell swoop,” they claimed.
The majority of the people in the affected area are extremely poor and dependent on the beedi industry. The majority of the men are migrant workers, and most of the women are engaged in binding beedis, which earns them a meagre Rs.178 for every 1,000 units. Their poverty makes their plight particularly poignant.
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