The Balagarh river bank erosion is an alarming issue and no permanent steps have been taken to stop the alarming rate of erosion.
More than 2-km stretch of river bank, from Guptipara Surya Mandir onwards is undergoing a massive erosion at an alarming rate.
Making the situation worse are the sand mafia from Nadia district and North 24-Parganas are chopping off large chunks of river bank soil from adjacent agricultural lands.
The Jirat panchayat pradhan, Tapan Das, said, “Previously, the sand mafia, at the dead of night came in their motorboats to carry on illegal sand mining from the Hooghly river banks at Balagarh. Now, they are carrying out illegal sand mining in broad daylight by cutting away soil from the agricultural lands, adjacent to the river.
The Jirat panchayat pradhan said steps are being taken for a joint meeting with the SDO and DM of both Hooghly and Nadia districts over the sand mafia issue.