Gopalpur: Rising tidal waves crossed the coast at Rameyapatna village under Golanthara police limits in Ganjam district and washed off three houses during last five days, a report said.
The tidal waves are breaching the coast sparking panic among the residents as they live in peril in the village with the tidal waves crossing the coastline and damaging their houses every year.
The village comprises people mostly from the fishermen community. These people earn their living by catching fish from the sea.
After reports surfaced, executive engineer Jaydeep Panda of the irrigation department, Chikiti tehsildar Biswa Ranjan Kanhar and senior officials visited the spot and took stock of the development.
The tidal waves have moved towards the village and are breaching the coastline after the southern wind changed its direction and blew towards the village.
The water of Bahuda river entering the sea also compounded the problem. Villagers claimed that this had been happening every year as sea waves cross the coast and damages houses and properties of the villagers.
The damaged houses were identified as that of L Bhogaraju, L Apanna and K Bhima. The villagers claimed if urgent steps are not taken at the earliest, the village getting submerged in the sea cannot be ruled out.
The incident was first reported in 2016 when sea waves crossed the coast. Later, the sea waves took a violent form and destroyed 27 houses in 2019.
Even a street in the village got submerged in the sea. The district administration assured remedial steps to the villagers but did not deliver on its promise.
As a provisional measure, the administration barricaded the coastline by putting up sand bags to prevent the sea water from entering the village.
However, that failed to be of any use as the barricade was destroyed by the wind. The administration also provided pucca houses to the villagers under Odisha Disaster Recovery Project (ODRP) scheme.
Fishermen abandoned those houses and started living near the coast by constructing houses as it was not possible for them to catch fish from the sea by living far from the coastline.
Tidal waves were seen changing direction and surging towards the village.
Recently, the sea water crossed the coastline and entered the village. High-level technical committees have visited the area at various points of time and have reviewed the problem.
The committee has submitted its report to the state government. However, nothing has been done so far in addressing the problem. The matter is under review of the state government.
Panda said a protective wall be built in the area at a cost of Rs 23 crore a plan for which has been sent to the state government for its approval. The protective wall will be built after the plan gets sanctioned by the state government, Panda added.
PNN
