Assam: Residents unite to build bamboo barrier to stop erosion in Sonitpur

In a remarkable display of community resilience, Balipara Mahila Shakti Kendra, an NGO, in collaboration with the Baligaon Miri Gaon Development Committee and support from Kolabari residents, has initiated the construction of a bamboo-based barrier to combat severe erosion along the Jiabharali and Dikrai rivers. 

Despite the lack of assistance from the state’s Water Resources Department, local residents and organizational members took it upon themselves to finance and build this crucial structure to prevent further damage to their land and homes within Rongapara’s Chiloni Gaon Panchayat.

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For farmers from five river-adjacent villages, erosion has already swallowed thousands of bighas of productive farmland, devastating agricultural opportunities and leaving only small tracts of arable land and homesteads intact. 

Facing these grim realities, the riverbank communities united in an all-out effort to construct protective bamboo parkupiles, each volunteer motivated by the urgent need to save what remains of their property and livelihoods.

Leaders from Balipara Mahila Shakti Kendra and the Baligaon Miri Gaon Development Committee shared that the initiative was funded through their modest personal resources. The bamboo barrier construction, guided as a labor donation campaign, was spearheaded by Jiabharali Samaj Hitaishi Award recipient Kamisan Mili, along with central Mishing National Struggle Association member and youth leader Padeswar Mili.