Melaghar: Hundreds of families in Wards 7 and 8 of Melaghar Municipality are living in fear as the Gomati river continues to erode its banks, forcing several residents to dismantle their own homes and relocate to safer areas.
According to residents, the river has grown increasingly ferocious in recent times, with rising water levels accelerating erosion and swallowing large stretches of land. Many homes have already been lost to the river, while others now stand precariously at the very edge of the eroding bank.
Locals said the demand for a boulder embankment to protect river-adjacent families in the two wards is not new, with affected residents campaigning for the measure for the past 20 to 25 years, receiving only repeated assurances from authorities over the decades.
A tender process for boulder-laying work to check the erosion was finally initiated around six months ago. However, disputes over the tender bidding process led to a legal and administrative deadlock, bringing the work to a complete halt.
Residents have blamed administrative delays and tender-related complications for endangering hundreds of families, who now face the dual burden of erosion threat and potential loss of homes and property.
Locals have demanded urgent intervention from the administration to resolve the tender dispute and initiate a permanent solution to prevent further erosion by the Gomati river.