West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday wrote a letter to the Union Jal Shakti Mission Gajendra Singh Shekhawat regarding riverbank erosion in Shamsher Ganj area of the Murshidabad district.
Chowdhury urged the union minister to treat this issue as a 'National Disaster' and requested to release adequate funds to check the land erosion and protect the life and livelihood of the affected people.
"Riverbank erosion is widespread throughout the course of the Ganges in West Bengal. Very large chunk of fertile land has been completely wiped out and thousands of people have been displaced in Shamsher Ganj," said Chowdhury in his letter on Saturday.
He said that every year it destroys the lives and livelihood of the people residing in that belt.
"They (people) become landless and lose their livelihood. Sometimes, poverty leads to an increase in crimes. Residents of Shamsher Ganj always live in fear of their life and livelihood," said Chowdhury, adding that the people are always anxious and scared because they do not know when their houses will collapse and will submerge in the Ganges.
Chowdhury also pointed out that he had raised the issue with the ministry in September last year too, and requested the authorities to take the sensitive matter and resolve it on priority.
This issue could be sorted out only with the combined efforts of both the Centre and the State Government, he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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