Gautam Deb, the mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, visited the Chamakdangi village on Friday, a day after theJalpaiguri district administration shifted all 70 families of the tiny hamlet as the Teesta flooded it and started gobbling the land.

The village is on the left banks of the river. It is around 25km from here on the fringes of the Baikunthapur forests.

Deb distributed relief materials among the families and spoke to officials of the Jalpaiguri district administration and representatives of the zilla parishad about the rehabilitation of the affected villagers.

“We have provided relief materials to the villagers of Chamakdangi. We are working in tandem with the administration and the zilla parishad for the permanent relocation of the residents to a safer place. I will submit a report to the chief minister about the localityand its current situation,” said Deb.

Residence of Laltong Chamakdangi shifted to safer place on Friday.

The senior Trinamool leader reached the village Friday morning and inspected the damaged areas of the village, including a portion of a concrete road and a soccer ground which have been almost devoured by the swollen Teesta.

Later, he visited a local community hall where the villages had been shifted and distributed relief materials, including tarpaulin,dry food, clothes and utensils to the affected dwellers.

Sources said that the district administration is providing cooked food to the villagers through a community kitchen.

Manisha Roy, a member of the zilla parishad, said that they had arranged shelter for the 70-odd families of the village in a high schoolat Salugara and Bikashnagar, on the outskirts of Siliguri.

But a section of them preferred to stay in the village. “They are dismantling their houses and shifting to higher areas. It seemsthey are not ready to leave unless relocated permanently,” said Roy.

“We are looking for appropriate plots for them,” she added.

The administration has deployed workers in the village to put wire cages filled with stones to prevent erosion. “We are closely monitoring the situation and hope the water levels will recede,” said an official.

Residents of Chamakdangi were evacuated as the Teesta came dangerously close to the land, threatening to engulf the village.

The situation escalatedbecause of heavy rain in the river’s upper catchments, resulting in flooding and theloss of a protective spur designed only last year to preventerosion.