Several families of an ‘Ashrayan Project’ in Dumuria upazila of the district are now at high risk of losing their dwellings due to erosion caused by the Bhadra River.

The houses will be swallowed up by the river unless an immediate measure is taken to halt the erosion, the residents said.

Visiting the Ashrayan project located along the river in Ataliya union under the upazila, the UNB correspondent found that the residents belonging to the lower-income group have been passing their days in grave concern as their houses may go into the river any time due to the erosion.

It is learnt that the government provided the semi-pucca buildings to the homeless people under the Ashrayan Project marking the birth centenary of the Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the past year.

As part of the project, the helpless people were handed over the houses built on government khas land at the union.

Read: Riverbank erosion destroys 17 houses, over 500 others at risk in Kurigram

Though they had been leading a happy life since they received the houses, a grave tension gripped them when they noticed the erosion.

Some of the residents namely Nargis Begum, Anjuara Begum, Hafizur Rahman, Parul Begum and Bilkis Begum, and others, urged the government to take immediate measures to save them from the erosion.

Shahrif Asif Rahman, Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Dumuria, said he has already visited the erosion-prone area while a renovation project was also going on with a tiny budget allocated by the concerned authorities.

The renovation work will be done to a large scale if a sufficient allocation is obtained, the UNO added.