Kakatpur: Some influential people have encroached upon banks of Prachi and Kadua rivers here and set up illegal prawn gherries.
The prawn mafia have also created illegal bunds near Keluni mouth at Keutajanga, where Prachi and Kadua rivers join Bay of Bengal. Massive encroachments on riverbanks and Keluni mouth have been obstructing the free flow of Prachi and Kadua. As a consequence, paddy fields of several nearby villages have been facing extensive waterlogging for the past few years. “Illegal acquisition of riverbanks and Keluni mouth is preventing the release of rainwater into the sea. Several hundred hectares of agricultural land have faced severe waterlogging,” said farmers Santanu Nayak and Sanjay Pradhan of Tandahara.
Locals claim that encroachment on Prachi and Kadua riverbanks may cause flash floods in at least 20 villages of Kakatpur block, including Belanga, Badaola, Haladiguda, Taiaa, Nashikeswar, Sanasirei, Badasirei and Keutajanga, in coming days.
According to sources, illegal farming has hampered the livelihoods of many local fishermen. “Chemicals used in the prawn enclosures have made the river water toxic,” rued fishermen Sanatana Behera and Sadhu Behera.
Sources said the aggrieved villagers had raised the issue with Astarang tehsildar and district administration last year. Locals had also organised a dharna at the tehsil office seeking action against the encroachers.
The villagers said sub-collector Madhusudan Das had assured them of evicting all the encroachers on Prachi and Kadua riverbanks. Subsequently, Astarang tehsildar had conducted a survey to identify illegal prawn enclosures and sent a report to the district administration. However, the administration is yet to raze encroachments. “We have information some senior government officials are hand in glove with the prawn mafia,” claimed villagers Ranjan Dixit, Jogendra Biswal and Prasanna Rout.
Environmentalist Shovankara Behera said no one can encroach upon the riverbanks as per the Supreme Court guidelines. “The district administration and Astarang tehsil officials are responsible for the man-made floods in the locality,” Behera said. Sources said villagers have planned to file a PIL in the Orissa High Court and seek its intervention on the illegal prawn farming issue.
Tehsildar Binod Kumar Swain said they have prepared a list of people who set up prawn enclosures on riverbanks and near Keluni mouth. “The district administration has not provided us the required manpower and resources to raze the illegal enclosures,” Swain said.
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