NALBARI, July 19 ? For the family members of the widow Prema Rajbangshi, Ajit Rajbangshi, Alam Ali, Bipin Rajbangshi, Nipen Rajbangshi and Girin Rajbangshi of Balajan (Digheli) village in Nalbari district, the Pagladia river has become a symbol of devastation as the river which breached the embankment in the village on the night of July 9 dashed all their hopes rendering them homeless. The flood waters of the Pagladia river totally washed away their dwelling houses as they resided just opposite to the breached portion which submerged their ?basti?. They are not in a position to go back to their ?basti? and are presently taking shelter on the embankment under the open sky. The economic condition of these families are poor for which if the administration stops the relief materials then these families will have no alternative but to beg from pillar-to-post. Prema, Ajit, Alam, Bipin, Nipen and Girin are not the only families of Digheli village. Similar is the fate of a total of 62 families out of 515 families of the village as the river caused great devastation here.
Recalling the experiences of that ill-fated night, seventy-year-old Birahu Rajbangshi told this correspondent that when the Paglaida river breached at two places at Sondha and Dhaniagog, the villagers were confirmed that there were no chances of any more breaches by the river and fell asleep. ?For that reason the villagers failed to save any household articles when the floods washed us away after a while,? Rajbangshi said. Rajbangshi who is sheltering on the dyke with other family members has a fifteen-year-old blind boy Gopal whom he miraculously rescued from the flood. A daily wage labourer, Rajbangshi has apprehensions that if the government stops the supply of relief he cannot maintain his family besides rehabilitating them in the old ?basti?.
The floods of Pagladia river have left nothing for the family members of homeopathic doctor Kamakhya Bhattacharya of Bardhari Chuba. When this correspondent visited his residence on Thursday it was seen that the floods damaged all his three houses and they were covered by three to four feet of silt deposited by the river. The TV set and the steel almirah of Bhattacharya?s family was dug out from under three feet siltation. When asked about the damages to his family, the senior homeo doctor pointed to the name plate hanging in a broken betel nut tree with a fearful eyes as if was the only property untouched by the devastating floods.
A fifty-member group of Nalbari district unit of AASU lead by Amal Deka and Sadananda Mazumdar on Thursday extended helping hand to the flood-hit people in setting up their partially damaged houses and rescuing the missing articles under the silt. The people of that locality have alleged that though the village is situated withing five kilometre from Nalbari town, the Nalbari deputy commissioner KC Samria and local MLA Madan Kalita are yet to come to take stock of the situation to Digheli. The Pagladia river after the breach submerged more than 50 villages of Pub-Nalbari, Bahjani and Barbhag areas affecting about a lakh of people. The busy Hajo-Nalbari road has remained closed for vehicular traffic as the floods washed it away at different places.