Baliapal: The Subarnarekha river is called the woe of Baliapal in Balasore. Every monsoon, the river plays havoc in this coastal pocket, bringing miseries to the local residents for days together.
Another problem faced by people of some riparian villages is that the river has been changing its course over the years. They are scared as with every spell of rain the river devours a portion of their habitats.
Erosion of riverbank is causing havoc in Chada, Kudamansigh, Manonagar, Rasalpur, Nayabali, Routraypur, Kankadapal, Kulhabada and Kulha villages where residential as well and farmlands have been devoured by the river in the past.
The Subarnarekha poses more danger to Kulhabada and Kulha in Jamkunda panchayat even as stone packing along the banks has collapsed. Large parts of villages are fast disappearing into the river, which biting off chunks of land at an alarming rate on both sides, locals said.
During the past two decades, Subarnarekha has been posing a serious threat to Bhogarai and Jaleswar blocks too. Though at some places, its bank has been reinforced with boulders and metal to prevent erosion, the river has started eating into other areas, they pointed out. This year, the river has eroded two metre along its bank at Kulhabada, while stretches of farmlands already become a part of the river.
Locals lamented that the rate at which the river is eroding into its banks, major villages like Kulha and Kulhabada and farmlands will be gobbled up in a few years.
Locals said that these villages are slowly but steadily losing their land. The villages face the threat of getting washed away completely if no protective measure is taken urgently.
Erosion has also been a problem for other riparian villages like Baunsakhanda, Pantei, Kumbhiragadi, Adanga, Sekhabad, Gobarghata, Mankidia, Gobardhanpur, Baiganbadia, Kirtania, Kantapal, Mohammadpur, Asti, Badhapal, Bishnupur, Ramnagar, Rasulpur, Gopalpur, Pathurighata, Rajpur, Mankidia, Bagada, Talabarei, Kasaphal, Panta and Parikhi.
Residents of these villages have demanded that stone packing of the river banks has become necessary to protect these villages.
Last year, the Irrigation department had floated a tender worth `40 lakh for stone packing. Although the work was taken up, it was stopped after some time for reasons unknown.
“Work is botched up as some parts of the stone packing have already disappeared into the river,” the locals said.
They sought to know the reason for which the department has abandoned the stone packing work halfway and pointed out that if stone packing is not carried out immediately, the situation in the riparian villages will worsen.
