Villagers in Shailakupa upzila of Jhenaidah district are fighting a losing battle against the onslaught of Garai River. Over the years the river has swallowed homesteads and croplands of hundreds of families -from well-off to poor- leaving them homeless. Many have taken shelter in other people’s lands. Some could still buy new lands with whatever money they had. Abdul Malek Mandal, a resident of Krishnanagar village, is one of them. In past few years he shifted places for at least seven times to escape serious erosion by the river. Once he had a tin-shed house, ten bighas of crop land but now he has become a pauper. Read Dhaleshwari erosion takes serious turn in Keraniganj “The demonic river has taken all I had,” sighed Malek. “There was a time when I used to help others. Now I seek help from others.” There seems to be no respite from river erosion as the residents of Uttarpara in Krishnagar village of Shailkupa upazila in Jhenaidah district have been suffering a lot as the Garai River turned turbulent, rendering several hundred people homeless. Like Malek, many people have lost their houses and land to the river. Also read: Riverbank erosion displacees await rehabilitation Abdur Rahim, another resident of Kerishnanagar village, has to shift his house in six places. Now he is living his life by working as a day labourer. Once 40 families lived in Krishnagar village but now only five families are living there.  The river erosion not only shattered their dreams but also made many people poor. People living in the villages have been leading a prosperous life as the Garai River was a blessing for them but as years passed on, the river became aggressive and a vast tract of lands was swallowed by it. Many people have been displaced from their ancestral lands as the erosion takes a serious turn in the village, forcing people to take shelter in another place. During a recent visit to the river bank villages, in Sarutia, Dhalharchandra and Hakimpur unions of Shailkupa upazila, this correspondent found that fear of being homeless by erosion has gripped villagers of three unions.