KENDRAPARA: Even as cyclone Dana unleashed torrential rain and strong winds in Kendrapara district and its nearby areas, around 500 residents of Charigharia village in Satabhaya gram panchayat of Rajnagar block refused to shift to the cyclone shelter at Okilapala protesting the government’s indifference towards their demand for land pattas.
Babuli Moharana, a resident of the village said the locals are ready to face the wrath of the storm. “Our fate is hanging in balance as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 has not been implemented in true spirit in the village,” he said.
The majority of residents of Charigharia are fishermen and farmers. “We have urged the administration on numerous occasions to grant us land pattas as our ancestors were born here. But the officials did not pay any heed to our demand due to which we decided to stay in our unsafe thatched houses to face nature’s fury,” said Parikhita Mandal, a resident of the village.
Maniram Sardar said his parents and other family perished in the cyclone of 1971 at Gobindapur village in Satabhaya gram panchayat. “After the tragedy, we shifted to Charigharia within Bhitarkanika National Park in 1972 but the officials are yet to grant us land pattas,” he said.
Similarly, Mantu Sardar, another local said the village lacks basic amenities like roads, clean and safe drinking water and healthcare. “We decided to stay in the village and face the cyclone to protest the government’s violation of the Forest Rights Act,” he said.
Sarpanch of Satabhaya Prasanna Parida said, “I visited Charigharia on Wednesday and Thursday and requested the residents to leave the village and stay in the cyclone shelter. I also told them this is not the proper time to raise the issue of land pattas. But they did not pay heed to my pleas. I informed the tehsildar and BDO of Rajnagar of the matter.”
Rajnagar BDO Nisan Mitra said he directed the nodal officer to shift all the villagers to the cyclone shelter immediately. Meanwhile, after days of churning in the Bay of Bengal, cyclone Dana created havoc leaving a trail of destruction in the district. Incessant downpours for the last two days has resulted in waterlogging in low-lying areas.