The Brahmaputra’s relentless bank erosion is swallowing homes, farmland and livelihoods across lower Assam, leaving lakhs of people in Dhubri and Goalpara districts facing a deepening humanitarian crisis. Thousands of hectares of cultivable land have been lost over the years as riverside communities see houses, markets and public infrastructure swept away.
Village clusters hardest hit include Balarbhita, Chunari, Tulsibari, Jaleswar, Medertari, Jamadarhat, Fakirganj, Matifata, South Salmara, Patakata, Hazirhat and Sukhchar. Residents say the river has repeatedly chewed into settlements, destroying mosques, schools and local commerce. Sukhchar residents note the town once hosted Asia’s largest jute trading centre until the 1970s; its warehouses have since been washed away, leaving the community increasingly vulnerable.
Anti-erosion activist Jamir Uddin Sheikh, of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), urged immediate and permanent interventions in Dhubri and South Salmara-Mankachar. “Thousands of families have lost their homes, farmland and livelihoods due to the continuous erosion caused by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, while government efforts have remained inadequate,” Sheikh said, calling the situation a long-standing emergency for thousands of displaced households.
Lokmanya Hussain, an activist from Jaleswar, pressed both state and central governments to shift from short-term fixes to scientific, long-term erosion control. “We demand immediate construction of permanent anti-erosion structures in vulnerable areas, adequate compensation and rehabilitation for erosion-affected families, protection of agricultural land and public infrastructure, and a comprehensive flood and erosion management policy for the two districts,” he said, warning that protests would intensify if action remains limited to temporary repairs.
Local leaders and residents say coordinated planning, permanent embankments or engineered river training works, and proper rehabilitation and compensation are urgently needed to stem displacement, protect livelihoods and prevent further loss of agricultural land in Assam’s vulnerable Brahmaputra basin.
Original Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/brahmaputra-gobbles-up-homes-land-in-dhubri-goalpara/articleshow/132743526.cms
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Publish Date: 2026-07-30 20:25:00
