The people of Pohukhuwa village at Sadiya in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district are in constant fear due rampant erosion from Kundil river.
Pohukhuwa village, established before independence with 133 houses have only 33 houses today due to erosion in the area.
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Also read: Assam: Erosion, shallowing of wetlands major threat to Kaziranga
The village Amarpur under Sadiya sub-division is also facing erosion threat from river Kundil.
Sadiya sub-division under Tinsukia district having a population of 1.2 lakh and every year due to marauding erosion, people have to lose their cropland.
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Day by day river Kundil is coming closure and posing a huge threat for the people of Sadiya.
The people of Pohukhuwa village have been facing the erosion since several decades.
Kundil river is creating havoc for the people of Sadiya after erosion started in the some of the villages of Sadiya sub-division.
Continuous erosion by Kundil river, an important tributary of river Lohit flowing through alluvial plains of Sadiya, has been a major threat to Panchmile, Bogoribari and adjacent areas in Sadiya, including National Highway 37 that connects Dr Bhupen Hazarika Sethu.
“We are facing the threat of being wiped out because of unbated erosion,” said Ranjan Hazarika, a villager.
“Our village was established before independence but since last 25 years erosion started and took away many houses,” he added.
“We have urged the concerned authority but there is no permanent solution to stop the erosion,” he further said.
He also said the government has not given any rehablitation to the people whose houses were washed away by erosion.
“Every year huge chunk of crop land erodes into the river and the Kundil river is coming closure, he informed.
“According to estimate 30 to 40 hectres of land was eroded into river. We want a permanent solution of erosion,” said another villager.
State chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal during his visit to the Kundil riverside in 2017 assured to undertake dredging work to prevent change in its course and soil erosion, but till date nothing has changed, the villagers alleged.
Moreover, Sadiya is one of the important places in Assam which connects Arunachal Pradesh’s major town.
After the inaguration of Dr Bhupen Hazarika Setu, the place became a major communication centre of Assam and in coming days the place will play a vital role in BJP’s ‘Act East policy’.
Meanwhile, to stop erosion, some anti-erosion measures were taken by the government but none of them helped the people of Pohukhuwa village.
“Continuous erosion has posing serious threat for the people of Sadiya. If the erosion continues and permanent solution not taken then one day Sadiya will be wiped out from Assam map,” Samar Gogoi, a resident of Chapakhowa said.
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal sought NITI Aayog’s intervention to include river erosion in the admissible list of calamities for funding under NDRF or SDRF so that quick and timely step can be taken to counter erosion.