Kendrapara: Many residents Monday raised their voices demanding construction of Luna and Karandia river embankments as the rivers often eat into 13 island villages of five panchayats during floods.
This has been a perennial problem of the locals and they face such situations every year. Despite running from pillar to post in the past days, their demand was not met. As lands slide very often, the 13 villages might gradually get washed away, the residents alleged.
However, this has become a main issue for partisan and non-partisan candidates ahead of three-tier rural polls. On the other hand, local voters resented that the ruling party has not kept its words, so far.
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According to a source, Luna-Karandia river island villages come under Garadpur, Marsaghai and Derabisi blocks of Kendrapara district.
Even as the five panchayats namely Bangalpur, Indalo, Jalapoka, Aitipur and Basupur are in the river island, Luna and Karandia rivers have touched the 13 villages. Embankments of the two rivers have run down and thereby cause land slides, the villagers including Mahadev Swain, Uttam Samal and Pratyush Nayak expressed.
Flood waters ingress the villages and severely damage the crops. Several farmlands have become sand casted in the last decade.
“A number of houses have been washed away by the river waters due to the dilapidated embankments. Seeking a permanent solution to the problem, we had met the local MLAs and also Water Resources department officials. Construction of the embankments was not given priority and politicians forgot their words given to us times and again. The department is also in limbo,” some of the local villagers said.
Notably, around 18,000 voters from the Luna-Karandia river island villages have attached importance this time to the construction of new embankments. The residents insisted on construction of 15-metre long embankments. Hence, contesting candidates now face trouble.
PNN