The Ganges’ intensified flooding and severe riverbank erosion caused a 175-year-old Shiva temple in Muniramtola, Ratua (Malda) to collapse into the river after the bank gave way. Footage posted Sept. 8 shows the bank crumbling and the shrine slipping into the water. An embankment breach on Sept. 2 inundated at least 62 villages and prompted evacuation of 1,725 people into school shelters; Bhutni island lost access to its only hospital. Authorities are prioritising relief and say rebuilding protective embankments must wait until floodwaters recede.
175-Year-Old Shiva Temple Collapses Into Ganges After Riverbank Gives Way in Malda
Photo Credit: iStock
A 175-year-old Shiva temple in Muniramtola, Ratua, in West Bengal’s Malda district was swept into the Ganges after a large stretch of the riverbank collapsed amid intense flooding and erosion, local media reported.
What Happened
The Times of India reported that the temple’s foundation was undermined when the bank gave way. Video shared by the South China Morning Post on TikTok on Sept. 8 shows the riverbank crumbling beneath the structure before the shrine tipped forward and disappeared into the water.
Residents could only watch in horror as the ancient temple was swallowed up by the river.
Officials and residents said temporary measures such as sandbags were insufficient to withstand the Ganges’ strong current. Erosion had threatened the site for some time; short-term protections held only until intensified floodwaters overwhelmed them.
Local Impact and Response
Authorities said an embankment breach on Sept. 2 caused floodwaters to inundate at least 62 villages across three panchayats and submerged the local police station. Relief operations moved 1,725 people from Ratua into makeshift camps set up in school buildings, and 63 families from Khaskol were sheltered at Khaskol High School.
Bhutni island in the Manikchak block — one of the hardest-hit areas — lost access to its only hospital. Basic treatment is now being provided from the panchayat (village council) office, while maternal care for pregnant women has been relocated to two school buildings in Manikchak.
Damage from riverbank erosion has also cost agricultural land and mango orchards in parts of English Bazar’s Khaskol area, compounding the district’s economic and humanitarian strain.
Relief Efforts and Next Steps
State ministers have visited the affected zones and relief centres have been set up. Gouri Shankar Ghosh, the minister responsible for mass education extension and library services, travelled to Bhutni to review relief operations.
Two relief centres have been set up for displaced residents, and food is being provided to those taking shelter on the remaining sections of the embankment,
Ghosh said, according to The Times of India. Officials said reconstruction of a replacement embankment must wait until floodwaters recede and a new engineering plan is prepared. In the short term, priorities remain moving people out of the most dangerous areas and providing essentials.
Broader Context
Experts and relief workers say extreme weather and more frequent flooding are increasingly disrupting livelihoods and infrastructure across the region. Similar recent incidents cited by reports include rapid evacuations after heavy rains in Shaanxi, China, storm-related road collapses in South Devon, England, and accelerating coastal erosion along North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
The lost temple had been an important cultural and economic focal point: local schoolteacher Alok Mandal told The Times of India that the river was once about 15 km from the site and the temple hosted a weekly market that drew thousands of devotees, including visitors from neighbouring Bihar.
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