Massive erosion hit Malda's Manikchak ghat area suddenly on Tuesday, with the Ganga swallowing 25 houses and shops built near the bank.

The erosion started around 12.30am on Tuesday, some 12 hours after the inspection of state irrigation minister Manas Bhuniya and his deputy Sabina Yeasamin on Monday.

The rapid erosion continued till 7am on Tuesday.

Local residents said that although a number of places in Manikchak block in the district had faced erosion several times, the block headquarters had not been hit for more than a decade.

“Naturally people felt that this area was safe. Several houses and shops were constructed in the vicinity of the Manikchak ghat that connects Rajmahal in Jharkhand through the waterways. But Tuesday's disaster has bewildered everyone. We heard the roar of the Ganga very near us and rushed out. By then, the Ganga had started swallowing one structure after another. Nearly 20 shops and five houses were gobbled by the river,” said Sagar Rajak, a local resident.

Momtaz Ali, who lost his shop in erosion said: “We thought Manikchak ghat was a safe place. But the speed in which the Ganga eroded a stretch of 200 metres, it now seems that the entire Manikchak block is in a vulnerable situation.”

Anup Chakraborty, the block development officer of Manikchak, and the officials of the irrigation department rushed to the spot of the erosion on Tuesday morning to take stock of the situation.

“We are furnishing a report to our higher-ups in this regard,” an irrigation official said.

Bhuniya and Yeasmin visited a few areas of the erosion-hit Manikchak on Monday.

They had asked the engineers and the officials of the district administration to adopt all possible measures to curb the erosion.

Bhuniya also blamed the Centre for not providing any help in combating the massive and ongoing river erosion in Bengal.