Kendrapara: The district administration has failed to relocate 571 families of Satabhaya, prone to sea erosion menace, at Bagapatia based-resettlement colony although the deadline set for this was June 30. Only 250 families were rehabilitated at Bagapatia, whereas other 251 families are yet to come to Satabhaya for stay at the rehabilitation colony.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, during his visit May 19, had directed the district administration to complete the resettlement colony work before June 30. Even the SRC had directed the district collector to provide all the government sponsored benefits, pensions and NFSA rations to the people. It seems the sea-erosion-prone families are set to face the onslaught of nature once again in the rainy season. As of now, 250 families have been residing at the Bagapatia resettlement colony. While 132 families are residing in pucca houses, others are staying in thatched houses.
Niranjan Swain, member of Satabhaya Sangram Samiti stated that due to lack of interest by the district administration, the Satabhaya resettlement work has failed to complete within the deadline.
The district administration had provided 10 decimal of land to each family for construction of houses. To erect a house, the district administration disbursed a fund of Rs 1.5 lakh, including sum of Rs 70,000 under the Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana, Rs 15,660 under MGNREGS and Rs 10,000 for filling earth for construction. Apart from this, the district administration would provide a sum of Rs 12,000 each for construction of a latrine.
However, the beneficiaries claimed that the land provided to most of the families are in low-lying areas. To fill the low-lying area, they spent Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000, but the district administration provided a meagre Rs 10,000. In the rainy season, the people would face a lot of difficulties due to water logging.
When contacted, the Bagpatia-rehabilitation colony nodal officer, Khirod Behera, stated that due to three-tier GP election, the rehabilitation development work moved at a slow pace. Apart from this, the district administration failed to carry out work in the last rainy season. Even, the funds allocated for earth filling reached late. Later, it took time for the approval of providing Rs 15,660 under MGNREGS, so the project work got delayed.
The district administration has constructed a cyclone shelter, 20 tube wells, drinking water projects, the Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendra, a Market complex, an anganwadi centre, schools and a panchayat office. Even the subsidized ration under NFSA distribution has been started at Bagapatia-rehabilitation colony. PNN
