Chhatrapur: Ganjam was the most affected district when severe cyclonic storm Phailin hit the state October 12, 2013. The coastal villages of the district and the Chilika area were completely wrecked by the cyclone.
The state government then decided to construct cyclone resilient houses under the ODRP (Odisha Disaster Recovery Project) in coastal villages. The joy of the residents knew no bounds when the World Bank sanctioned funds for the project in 2014.
The project covered 16,290 families of 109 villages in Chhatrapur, Ganjam, Chikiti, Rangeilunda and Chilika areas. However, after five years only 14,943 houses have been constructed.
The beneficiaries were given land and told to construct their own houses. The administration would only provide money in installments. This led to the construction of poor quality houses, sources said.
Of the 14,943 constructed houses, only 13,954 have toilets. The remaining houses have no toilets while electricity has been supplied to only 149 houses.
Around 900 families have not started construction of their houses as they are not satisfied with the location of their allocated plots. Reports are now doing the rounds that the project will be called off within two months.
World Bank representatives have expressed dissatisfaction about the project’s progress. But the administration has not heeded the demands of the people here.
A week back, a World Bank team visited seaside villages and took stock of the work on the houses. The team expressed displeasure over the lack of dustbins and drinking water facilities. The team went around the villages and held threadbare discussions with the beneficiaries.
The team asked the authorities to complete construction of school buildings, Anganwadi centres and community halls.
Taking serious note of the issue, Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange called a meeting and directed officials to complete the project by July 15. He also asked the people to complete house construction as soon as possible.
The meeting was attended by Additional District Magistrate Laxmikant Sethy, DRDA APD Debabrat Sahu, Deputy Collector Dibyalochan Mohanty, Chhatrapur Sub-Collector Priyaranjan Prusty, Berhampur Sub-Collector Digant Routroy, Pradip Kumar Patra, Assistant Engineers Dilip Behera and Manita Monali Mansingh, Executive Engineers Rameya Panda and Tanmay Kumar Rout.
PNN
