DHAKA, Sept 11: Indian authorities recently opened all the gates of the Farakka Barrage, causing a sudden, and heavy onrush of water into the Padma River, as a result of which about 1,000 Bangladeshi families living downstream have been rendered homeless.

The onrushing waters has hit the left bank of the river in the northern Chapainawabganj district causing extensive erosion there and rendering the 1000 families in the Shibganj and Sadar upazilas homeless, reported a Dhaka-based English language daily on Wednesday.

More than 400 more families have been marooned as their lands have been inundated in Padma, and relief materials have not yet reached them.

India controls the banks of the Ganges with revetment — facing with masonry — along the right bank from Farakka to Nimtita to divert the mainstream flow to the left, said Rajshahi WDB Executive Engineer, Abdul Mannan, and that was why it was directly hitting (and eroding) the left bank in Chapainawabganj.

The report said that, the Indian authorities have been opening all the sluice gates of the Farakka barrage, over the years, to release the onrush of Ganges waters from upstream, triggering floods in Bangladesh.