Kendrapara: The absence of a long-term plan to prevent natural calamities is posing serious threats to several villages under Mahakalapada block of Kendrapara district.
Locals alleged that every year the administration holds meetings to tackle the situation in the aftermath of natural calamities. However, no concrete steps have ever been taken to prevent impending danger. “The effort is always to act after destruction, but not to prevent it,” pointed out a local.
The frequent ingress of seawater into residences located in villages under Satabhaya, Lanjuda, Suniti and Babar panchayats is giving sleepless nights to the inhabitants. They stated that unless preventive measures are implemented quickly the sea will gobble up the villages in these panchayats within the next four to five years. They added that even a slight increase in the speed of wind gives rise to tidal waves at many places of the 48-kilometre-long coastline resulting in rapid soil erosion.
Environmentalists and scientists pointed out that if soil erosion continues in the manner it is happening now, the day is not far when many villages will be swallowed up by the sea. They blamed the district administration for the current state of affairs. “We have been harping on development of mangrove plantations in a planned manner to stop soil erosion, but nothing has been done to combat the situation,” they stated. The environmentalists warned that 90 per cent of land under Satabhaya panchayat has disappeared into the sea and other panchayats will face the same fate.
Bhuban Mohan Jena, president of ‘Zilla Jana Adhikar Manch’, local intellectual Ganesh Chandra Samal, farmer leader Gayadhar Dhal, educationist Khitish Kumar Singh and environmentalist Hemant Kumar Rout pointed out that this district is always prone to natural disasters due to its long coastline and seven major rivers and scores of other water bodies flowing through it.
However, instead of turning into a blessing, this factor has turned into a curse for this district. The rivers and water bodies are responsible for the devastating floods that plague the district every year. Locals said that as preventive measures to tackle floods have not been put in place, they have to suffer huge losses. Moreover, the district has also been identified as Tsunami-prone, they added.
When contacted, ADM Pitambar Samal said the river embankments are being strengthened on downstream to control floods, while mangrove plantations are being created to prevent erosion. He added that results will soon be seen.
PNN