9. Field Visit  

River bank erosion and flood are a regular phenomenon in West Bengal. Some die and many are displaced by these disasters. In many parts of North Bengal, the problem has become endemic. Malda, the district where we visited as part of our field visit, is one such area where such disasters have become ‘natural’, as has displacement. It isn’t a one-time affair but a protracted and alarming situation. The people living near the riverbanks face multiple displacements in a span of a few years due to these erosions, forcing them to lead a semi nomadic existence, without any ‘home’ to return to; which has become as elusive as the shifting river.
Breaking one bank and building another is in the nature of rivers. But with human intervention to obstruct their flow, by building dams barrages and bridges, this natural calamity turns into a man made disaster. Our field visit to Malda aimed at providing us a glimpse into the reality of this riverbank erosion of Ganga or Ganges River, which enters Bengal through this district. The visit was to make us understand how the river does not only erode banks, but erode homes, erode livelihood, indeed erode life itself. Our local collaborators were from the organisation Ganga Bhangan Pratirodh Action Nagarik Committee based in Panchanandapur.
On 8 December 2007, we embarked on our field visit journey at 2 PM and reached Malda town after ten and a half hours journey by bus. To familiarise us with the situation of riverbank erosion, an award-winning documentary “Bhangan” (Erosion) directed by Saurav Sarangi, subtitled in English was screened during our journey. After a short night’s sleep we assembled at 7.30

am in the morning and left for the bus to take us to Panchanandapur, after a short briefing by Samir Kumar Das.On reaching the ghats (banks), we took a boat that took us to the char of Khashmahal. A char is a small river islet. When a piece of land goes under water, a silt bank or char often rises on the other side. The submerged land is called diluviated land and the risen land is called alleviated land. During the river ride the undulated riverbanks were visible, the marks of erosion, very obvious. Once on the boat the members of the committee explained to us, with drawings about the building of the Farakka barrage and bridge has increased the eastward erosion of the river Ganga by the day; the silica soil and the depth of the river increasingly leading to its erosion.  Its an immediate problem, needing immediate attention from all the tiers of government and also requires interstate dialogues – as Ganga is a national river. The Ganga Bhangan Pratirodh Action Nagarik Committee had also invited another NGO Divya Seva Kendra from Calcutta to look into the health and education of these people leading an unsettled life along the eroding banks. 
On reaching the Khasmahal char by 11 AM, we divided ourselves into smaller groups to briefly interact with the locals. The char had alleviated 8 – 10 years back. Many of their social realities came out very starkly during our brief interaction with them. Khasmahal char has a population of about 3000, all belonging to the minority community. Entire family members are involved in agricultural productions largely for self-consumption. The population residing in this char had moved home as many as nine times and had been residing in this islet for the past eight years. Though they have been able to build thatched huts, they are prone to annual flood, which washes away most houses.