Aradi: The monsoon is round the corner, but the government has not implemented the project to pack stones on the Baitarani river’s banks in the Bodak area of Bhadrak district.
The river has started eroding its banks. A patch of 100 metres of the bank collapsed into the river at Bodak recently. The river is gradually engulfing areas near the Aradi-Jajpur Road.
Reports said there was a proposal for strengthening the embankment from the Aradi playground area to Koinyagola Bridge apart from stone-packing.
There were reports that funds had been sanctioned for the project. “Some contractors working for the water resources department are not executing the work,” the people of Bodak said.
Before monsoon, the only work they do is stacking sandbags and bamboo poles on the banks. The officials and contractors have never thought of the project which will protect people from floods, the villagers said.
Ramakant Nayak, a resident of Bodak, said people in the area are apprehensive of floods as the river has started eroding its banks even before the monsoon. He added that there was a need for stone-packing at the place where the bank has collapsed.
In October 2018, a part of an embankment of the Baitarani near Sathibankuda in Chandbali block sank. A 100-ft crack developed there, and earth caved in at some places.
But the water resources division SDO Bhubananda Mohanty said that there is no threat where the river’s bank has collapsed. If there is a need stone-packing of the bank will be done, the SDO said.
PNN