BALASORE: With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing yellow warning for Balasore, residents of low-lying villages along river Subarnarekha in Bhograi and Baliapal blocks are panic-stricken as heavy rainfall is likely to cause further damage to the eroding embankment in their area.
Sources said, erosion of the embankment is being reported from this stretch of the river every year.
In 2006, the State government had mooted a proposal worth Rs 960 crore titled ‘Subarnarekha Sanskar Yojana’ and placed it before the Centre for construction of embankments, stone packing on both sides of the Subarnarekha besides renovation of the river mouth but to no avail.
Two years later, the Water Resources department had again sought attention of the government and Centre towards the need for embankment construction on the 30 km stretch in the two vulnerable blocks of Bhograi and Baliapal but no action was taken.
Low-lying villages along the Subarnarekha like Palia, Bodhapal, Routrapur, Sungahmuan, Jakunda and Badatalapada under Baliapal block, and Rashalpur-B and Kulha village in Kumbhirgadi under Bhograi block are prone to heavy rainfall and frequent floods which have eroded the river embankment in these areas over time.
In one of the worst-hit Kankadapal village in Baliapal, over 127 out of 327 families have lost homestead and farmlands to the river which has been eating up land mass since 12 years.
Houses and cowsheds of villagers like Bansidhar Bindhani, Kalicharan Bindhani and Baniyan Bindhani of Rashalpur-A village in Baliapal block were washed away last year as there was no embankment to prevent the river from advancing.
In Rashalpur-A under Bishnupur panchayat, more than 150 villagers are affected every year as the river keeps changing its course and damaging crops.
“Moreover, the district administration had placed sand bags along the embankment before the rainy season, two years back. Now, 50 per cent of those have been washed away,” said villagers Muralidhar Sahoo and Kalicharan Bindhani.
Ward member of Badatalapada Subal Sahoo said motorable road up to Jamkunda Chowk was washed away by tidal ingress during the recent cyclone.
“The villagers would not have suffered had the government taken measures to protect the embankment,” he said.
Contacted, Bhograi MLA and Balasore District Planning Board Chairman Ananta Das said the State government will take necessary measures as was declared by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while attending Talasari Beach Festival in 2019.
The CM had assured embankment protection for low-lying areas in the calamity-prone district. A technical committee had also visited the site afterwards and provided feedback to the State government, Das added.