A 50-year-old Lakshmi temple at Shibpur in Murshidabad’s Samserganj collapsed in full view of hundreds on Wednesday morning, hours after nightlong erosion by the Ganga tributary forced several families to abandon their homes.

The incident, which took place in Shibpur village, comes barely three months after weeklong spates of erosion in Samserganj that elicited the ire of hundreds of families in the area, many of whom are still under “ad hoc” measures at the Chachanda Primary School.

Several families have emptied homes of all belongings, even if they have not been sucked into the sinkholes yet.

“We have been here for months and have not seen the face of even one district or irrigation official concerned about our well-being. As a result, we had to lose our beloved temple today (Wednesday),” said a resident of the Chachanda shelter. “More than 40 homes have been lost in the area.”

On Tuesday night, eight homes were reportedly left in a precarious position. Among the homeowners were Apurba Mondal and Ajay Pramanik, who “thanked their lucky stars” for being able to get out of their homes though the erosion “struck suddenly at night”. On Wednesday, they were busy emptying homes of belongings.

Residents on Wednesday recalled the plight of several villages in Samserganj in September, which included Dhanghora, Dhusripara, Kamalpur and Shibpur villages.

“The Lakshmi temple at Shibpur was close to the hearts of all residents of Samserganj and a source of strength. We request irrigation officials to please wake up now,” said an irate resident.

On Wednesday, Behrampore Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury advocated for the plight of Shibpur in an address at a party meeting in Farakka nearby.

"When the UPA ruled at the Centre, they were attentive and diligent about the erosion problem. Now, (the Centre) don’t even care, and our state government is as bad... They (state) have a Rs 3 lakh crore budget but can’t pay a minor fraction of that to ensure the safety of citizens' lives,” said the MP.

“At the same time, they will pay well to ensure Gangasagar gets organised in time... The chief minister will sit on dharnas for Rajiv Kumar, but won’t go to Delhi for half an hour for erosion in Murshidabad,” he added.

Residents of the area rued the loss of the temple through the rest of Wednesday, with audible refrains of resentment against “lax district administration”.