GUJRAT - More than 18,000 inhabitants of eight villages of NA-104 constituency, close to Jalalpur Jattan, are living at constant threat as the River Chenab has started eroding their agrarian lands with an added 'advantage of imminent floods, TheNation has learnt in a survey. Unlike others, the arrival of the monsoon season has never augured well for the rural population living alongside the River Chenab. The river has already devastated more than 100 acres of land in two months. This scribe had visited the villages Shahbazpur, Kaa Mohla, Paniari, Chak Kala, Lalukay, Chak Rehman, Miana Kot and Bahlolpur where a large chunk of the rural population have lost hope in the local administration which had not taken a single measure to secure the people and their lands. The people of Shahbazpur Village, which housed more than 4,000 inhabitants and situated more than 25 kilometres away from Gujrat city, told this scribe that before the arrival of the monsoon season, the melting of ice on the mountains of Azad Jammu and Kashmir corrode their lands every year. They lamented that the district machinery paid visits only and did not take up any preventive measure against the soil erosion and their village would sweep away with the waves of the River Chenab in coming weeks if the situation would persist. The villagers said that a former MPA Chaudhry Gul Nawaz had approved 3,600 feet long embankment to be constructed at Shahbazpur but only 150 feet long embankment was made which started the misery for the rural population. A villager, Chaudhry Pervaiz said that the construction of four to six spurs at sensitive points was the need of the hour to save the villages from being drowned. The officials of the district government had visited these villages, ahead of alarming condition, but their visits could not yield any result except they had been tantalising the hopes of the rural populations. The NA-104 is a parent constituency of Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul, a Pakistan Peoples Party stalwart and former advisor to the Prime Minister for the political affairs, and PML-Qs MNA Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain. The people of the areas condemned the politicians of the constituency for their ignorance of the prevailing situation. They said that since last two months, none of the politicians, including the PPP and PML-Q had visited here. On the other hand, Dr Syed Bilal Haider, the administrator of the tehsil Gujrat, when asked as why did not the district government take measures against the proposed floods, he said that the district government Gujrat had demanded Rs 100 million for the construction of embankments and spurs alongside the River Chenab but the provincial government had provided it with Rs 2.5 million for the same. He added that the Punjab government had required Rs 87 billion for the construction of the embankments at the River Chenab in the province but it released Rs 7 billion only.