Rajnagar: Brahmani river has been eroding its banks in Rajnagar area of Kendrapara district at a faster rate than usual, engulfing one village after another over years. Now, some other villages situated on its banks are facing the same threat. Reports said, in the absence of stone-packed embankments, the river has been advancing into riparian villages at a rate faster than before. This has caused grave concern for people living in these villages.
Some villages which have already lost their existence to the river are Jeula, Nuagaon, Matia, Lahuni, Bedhuankolha and Uasadhia. A major stretch of the river’s banks from Dakshinabheda to Lokanathprasad is getting eroded increasingly year after year. Though stone packed embankments and spurs have been made at some places, it is not effective against the erosion, locals lamented. Scores of locals from a number of villages united under Baragaon Banchao Manch held a meeting on the premises of Maa Mangala Shakti Peetha here. The locals deliberated on the bank erosion and called for an urgent need for stone-packing of embankments along with a series of spurs from Dakshinabheda to Lokanathprasad. They pointed out that during floods, the area failed to drain out floodwater, leading to waterlogging on the road near Matia Mangala Chhak.