Erosion victims at Malda College with the notice of the hearing. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, March 30: Four Calcutta High Court judges today heard appeals for damages by 1,550 victims of erosion by the Ganga, creating “history” for the Lok Adalat.

Thousands of people who lost their land, livelihood and homes to erosion in the past two decades thronged the court, at Malda College. The hearing, due for years in many cases, was completed in a matter of hours and the judges said the verdict would be announced after the claims for compensation were examined.

The state government would then have to let the Adalat know within a prescribed period what it was offering the affected families.

The National Legal Ser- vices Authority convenes such a court to dispose of pending cases of a similar nature at one go.

Justice Kalyanjyoti Sengupta said: “It is an historic occasion… we are hearing so many cases.

“These people, who have lost everything to erosion by the Ganga, could not approach the high court as they did not have the means to do so.”

Over 6,000 erosion compensation claims were pending in court. The 1,550 heard today were from Manikchak alone.

“Never had a Lok Adalat heard so many cases in a day. It will increase the people’s faith in these courts,” said advocate Pradip Roy, general secretary of the State Legal Aid Services.

The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, had been framed to provide free legal servi-ces to the underprivileged.

Justices Indira Banerjee, Prasenjit Mondal, Parthasakha Dutta and Sengupta began the hearing at 11am and continued till seven in the evening. High court and district officials helped them with details of who lost what.

Satyen Mondal, 47, lost the 20 acres he owned along with his four brothers. “In 1989, the Ganga ate up our village, Ishwartola. Our land and house were gone in a few hours.”

The former landlord now works as daily labourer. “It is nice to be able to hope for something good, finally,” he said, sitting outside the college.

Paban Mondal, who works as a construction labourer in Delhi, was here to attend the hearing. His family, which had two acres, now lives on an embankment in Manikchak that might be gobbled up by the Ganga any day.

“I hope something is done fast. My father is becoming increasingly feeble because of the hardship of living at nature’s mercy,” said Mondal, 45.

The remaining 4,500 appeals are from the Panchanandapur area, only 25km away. The Adalat will hear them in the next round.