Feni, Sept. 28 -- People along the banks of the Choto Feni River in three upazilas are living in constant fear as severe erosion devours land and swallows key regulators at Muchapur and Kazirhat.

The erosion has struck Companiganj, Daganbhuiyan and Sonagazi upazilas, claiming crop fields, fruit orchards, roads and hundreds of homesteads.

Locals estimate that some 41,000 hectares of farmland have already disappeared, while a further 30,000 hectares remain under threat. Homes, markets, religious institutions and major roads are also teetering on the brink.

On September 15, more than a hundred residents from Badarpur village in Chormojlishpur union, Sonagazi, formed a human chain in front of the Feni Water Development Board office.

They ...