A delegation of erosion-affected families from Jawainiya village, Shahpur block, Bhojpur (Bihar) on September 30 met the District Magistrate to demand urgent relief and a comprehensive rehabilitation plan. The delegation was led by Ara MP Comrade Sudama Prasad, along with Comrades Abhyuday and Qayamuddin Ansari of CPI(ML) Liberation and Insaf Manch, Bihar.
The memorandum submitted to the DM highlighted the catastrophic Ganga river erosion that began on 18 July 2025, which destroyed nearly 350 houses and left over a thousand families homeless. A temporary embankment constructed earlier collapsed, worsening the destruction. Hundreds of families have been living on makeshift shelters on the Damodarpur embankment for over two months, facing snakes, scorpions, and harsh conditions. The village’s 10+2 school, with over 1,500 students, was also washed away, halting education. Nearby villages including Chakki–Nauranga in Ballia have been severely affected.
The delegation demanded immediate construction of a permanent concrete embankment from Buxar to Koilwar, strict action against illegal sand mining, and a comprehensive rehabilitation plan. Each affected married household should receive Rs. 25 lakh compensation, land, housing, schools, roads, electricity, drinking water, and healthcare facilities. Priority employment for displaced families, temporary schooling arrangements, community kitchens, and 24×7 medical and sanitation facilities were also demanded. Interim compensation of Rs. 1,20,000 per family was sought without procedural delays.
Earlier, on September 27, a CPIML delegation led by General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya visited the affected areas along with Ara MP Sudama Prasad, Bihar Secretary Comrade Kunal, acting Bhojpur secretary Comrade Abhyuday, party MLAs Comrades Shiv Prakash Ranjan (Agiaon), Ajit Kumar Singh (Dumraon), and Arun Singh (Karakat), Insaf Manch Bihar secretary Comrade Qayamuddin Ansari, AILAJ convenor Amit Kumar Bunty, retired chief engineers Viswanath Chaudhary and Shyam Nandan Singh, environmentalist Rajendra Prasad Gupta, and editor of Samkaleen Lokyudh Santosh Sahar. The delegation assessed the ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts and interacted directly with affected families.
Comrade Dipankar noted that more than two months since the disaster, no minister of the Nitish government has visited the area, and the DM has made only a single visit. Although the village mukhiya submitted an initial list of 227 affected families, only 111 families have received the meagre compensation announced by the government. The Jawainiya 10+2 school, destroyed in the disaster, has forced students to travel up to eight kilometres to continue their education, severely disrupting schooling.
MP Sudama Prasad also raised the issue in Parliament, demanding urgent relief and a special rehabilitation package for the devastated families. However, the CPIML delegation pointed out that the state government has so far remained indifferent, taking only token measures despite the scale of the disaster.
