KENDRAPARA: Many villagers including women of sea-erosion hit Satabhaya gram panchayat launched an indefinite hunger strike in front of the Kendrapara collector’s office on Friday demanding immediate rehabilitation to safer place.
The agitators claimed the district administration is yet to rehabilitate 40 families who have been staying at Satabhaya at a handshake distance from the marching sea.
Dharanidhar Nayak (75) of Satabhaya said in 2018, the administration shifted 571 families of the panchayat to the rehabilitation colony at Bagapatia, around 12 km from the sea. However, the government is yet to provide land to the 40 left-out families in the rehabilitation colony. “We are spending sleepless nights amid fears of being swept sway by the sea,” he alleged.
Similarly, Anita Mallick (46) accused the government of playing with their lives by delaying their rehabilitation. “Three decades back, the sea was far away. Now, it’s a few yards away. More than 700 families have lost their homes and farmland to the rising sea in these 30 years,” she added.
Another villager Jiban Mallick (56) said the agricultural land has turned saline due to ingress of seawater. Cattle, goats and buffaloes are not getting any fodder due to salinisation of the grazing fields. “It is high time the government rehabilitated us at a safer place far away from the sea.”
Sources said large tracts of Satabhaya, a cluster of seven villages, have been wiped out by the rising sea level. The Bay of Bengal has already consumed the seven villages of Gobindapur, Mohanpur, Chintamanipur, Badagahiramatha, Sanagahirmatha, Kanhupur and Kharikula. Only a small portion of the panchayat is what remains now.
Contacted, additional district magistrate (ADM) of Kendrapara Nilu Mohapatra said, “We have received applications from the 40 families of Satabhaya for rehabilitation at Bagapatia. After verifying their applications, the administration will rehabilitate them.”