JAGATSINGHPUR: Residents of more than 150 villages in Naugaon and Balikuda blocks are living in a state of panic after a crack developed on the embankment of Devi river in Tumbeswer as first flood water arrived a few days back.
They are now blaming administration for ignoring their demands and going ahead with the pipeline project without building a concrete embankment first. In February 2018, the State government had allocated Rs 173 crore for a drinking water pipeline project on Devi river. The project was expected to benefit around 64 water-starved villages of Balikuda and 57 villages of Erasama block. The construction agency had started work on the river near Tumbeswer of Gajarajpur panchayat under Naugaon block from 2020.
During this time, activists of Devi River Embankment Surakhya Committee led by convener Aratatran Das had protested the construction work of the pipe water supply project as a crack had developed and urged the administration and irrigation department to start work only after strengthening the river embankment. But the officials reportedly ignored the demands and filled the crack with sandbags instead of erecting a concrete barrier. As a result, the situation got worse and the crack reappeared after arrival of first flood water, locals said.
Contacted, Gajarajpur sarpanch Laxmipriya Mallick claimed that demands of villagers to erect concrete embankment before start of construction work has been purposefully ignored by officials. The crack developed due to deep digging and drilling which led to soil erosion. It is putting lives of people at risk, she said.
