Survival bigger issue in erosion-hit Barpeta

GOMAFULBARI(BARPETA): The string of promises made by political parties to hundreds of landless families here has little meaning for them, as only a gloomy future stares them in the eye.
Gomafulbari, a remote area in Barpeta, has seen more than 120 villages being washed away since Independence by the mighty Brahmaputra affecting more than 25,000 families.Fifty-year-old Abdul Rashid was once the proud owner of vast stretches of agricultural land here and was later reduced to the status of a daily wage earner. He lost altogether 109 bighas in the past decade.
"Political parties come and go but our fate does not change," lamented Rashid and added, "We are frustrated with the poor performance of Congress. Its MPs never spared a thought for us since Independence. Ismail Hussain (current Congress MP) has never turned up here to see what we are suffering."
Out of the three bighas left with Rashid's family, two bighas were taken over by the government to construct an embankment along the river. He was not compensated for the land either.
Jalal Khan, who is in his 40s, shared his tales of woe with TOI. For the past five years he has been living in a makeshift house on the embankment after losing his home and land to erosion. "Political leaders have no time for us. Everyone is a cheater," said Jalal angrily. Around 10 families reside on this embankment in makeshift dwellings.
Besides Hussain, the sitting Congress MP, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has fielded Sirajuddin Ajmal and BJP nominee is Chandra Mohan Patowary here. The constituency goes to the polls on April 24. The other contenders include Asom Gana Parishad's Phani Bhusan Choudhury and CPI (M)'s Uddhab Barman, who had won from Barpeta two times in 1991 and 96.
Former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed's son Pervez Ahmed is also in the fray on a Trinamool ticket.
But nobody was happy with the selection of candidates. "We have never seen the face of Ajmal in our area. He has no knowledge of the plight of the people. Patowary is also in the dark. Besides, nobody knows Ahmed. Among these, who is going to look into our problems?" asked Moinul Hoque Choudhury.
A number of historical centres, educational institutes and places of worship are also facing serious threat from the river. Noteworthy among these are a 554-year-old Vaishnavite monastery called, Sattra, and a historical wall built by Swargadeo Shiva Sinha.
In Gomafulbari, the battle of the ballot has got nothing to do with development, but with survival.