Marching rivers snatch away livelihood, displace villagers in Odisha's Aul and Rajkanika

Over the decades, villagers have been helplessly watching the marching rivers consume their agricultural land and houses with an accelerated pace.
Residents of a village affected by river erosion in Kendrapara district | express
Residents of a village affected by river erosion in Kendrapara district | express
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KENDRAPARA: Kharasrota and Brahmani rivers are fast devouring vast tracts of land, snatching away livelihoods and displacing a large number of people in Aul and Rajkanika blocks of the district.

Over the decades, villagers have been helplessly watching the marching rivers consume their agricultural land and houses with an accelerated pace.

Mahendra Patra of Ichhapur village in Aul used to live in a three-room thatched house. Six months back, the house was devoured by Kharasrota river. “Only a small portion of our house remains. Considering the intensity of the river erosion, the whole village may disappear from the map within a few years,” said Mahendra.

Rajendra Mallick of Bijaynagar said he lost two acre of land to Kharasrota five years back. “The river has rendered me landless and snatched away my livelihood,” he rued.

Villagers said Kharasrota has already devoured many villages in the last three decades. Absence of stone-packed river embankments is the main reason behind the increased erosion, they claimed.

Similar is the situation of villagers residing near Brahmani river. Brajakishore Rout of Bajapur village in Rajkanika said, “Brahmani flows just 200 metre away from our house. We lost our farmland 10 years back due to river erosion. Now, our house is facing the threat.”

The river has reportedly gobbled up 70 per cent of Bajapur, nearly half of Siko and 60 per cent of Singirimukha village. It has also devoured around 90 per cent of Pandurikoli village in Rajkanika block.

Senior Congress leader and former Aul MLA Devendra Sharma said river erosion is causing mass migration in the region. A large number of villagers are forced to leave their native place to save themselves from the marauding rivers. Many have also lost their livelihoods, he claimed.

Superintending engineer of Irrigation department, Kendrapara Umesh Sethi admitted that river erosion was a serious problem in the riverside villages. “The authorities have already completed stone-packing works to protect some of the villages from the onslaught of the rivers. We will stone-pack the river embankments in other villages after getting funds from the government,” he added.

Additional district magistrate (ADM) Nilu Mohapatra said at the natural calamity meeting held a few months back, the administration chalked out plans including stone-packing of embankments to protect the villages affected by river erosion.

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