This year's erosion also occurred in villages that had never, if ever, seen it before. Erosion that started in August 2020 is still damaging houses, temples, a school, and agricultural land in the Samserganj block of the Murshidabad district. Many residents of three villages in the Samserganj block along the Ganga riverbank—Pratapgunj (Ghanasyampur gramme panchayat), Lalupur (Ghanasyampur gramme panchayat), and Maheshtala—have noticed additional erosion this year (Anantapur gramme panchayat). In Dhanghara (Nimtita gramme panchayat), Dhusaripara (Nimtita gramme panchayat), and Natun Shibpur, erosion is ongoing (Chachanda gramme panchayat). Large tracts of agricultural land and mango-litchi plantations were also wiped away. In the Pratapgunj, Disco region of the Ghanasyampur gramme panchayat, there have been reports of new erosion since November 8 (the full moon), and it is still occurring. Locals claimed that until the initial erosion, at least 200 bighas of land had been flooded, and that numerous soil cracks had appeared throughout the Nimtita region and may disappear at any time. The Ganga River here has a very strong current, and the sand here is especially sandy. Close to the bank, the river is between 80 and 110 feet deep. In the next days, storms, flooding, and erratic rainfall will exacerbate erosion at the marginal home. This erosion affects some 20,000 riverbank inhabitants directly and indirectly, and numbers of them have fled the climate.
