Baripada: Four years have passed since cyclone Phailin played havoc in various parts of the state, but residents of Baripada still recall the flash water-logging in the town October 13, 2013.
The residents were panicked when water started pouring into wards 7, 8, 9 and 11 and partially into six other wards. A person had died. Assets and properties worth lakhs of rupees were damaged in water-logged areas.
Scores of patients had a harrowing time after water from river Budhabalanga had entered the district headquarters hospital.
The water ingress had happened due to the absence of a dyke alongside the river, locals said. They had demanded the embankments there while the government had announced to build the dyke.
According to reports, a technical advisory committee has discussed these issues at its 117th meeting. The committee had even recommended an estimated outlay of Rs 62.34 crore for the proposal in the first phase.
The committee had proposed a dyke from Kuchei Ghat to Damodar Ghat in three phases. However, the proposal has allegedly been pushed aside due to administrative apathy and politics.
Now, on the fourth anniversary of cyclone Phailin, locals have raised questions over the sincerity of the government in carrying out the proposed project.
Some locals, united under Madhuban Development Committee, has long been demanding the dyke and even taken up the issue with the district collector, the secretary of the water resources department and several other officials. But they have remained non-committal on the issue.
Bikram Keshari Jena, secretary of Madhuban Development Committee, said: “We have demanded the construction of dyke several times in the past, but there is no help or response from the administration and the political leaders. That is why the dyke project has not been executed as yet.”
Jena also warned that if the government fails to take any step in this direction, the committee will launch an agitation. He also pointed out that since the old bridge across Budhabalang is in bad shape the PWD has taken steps to build a new bridge.
But the new bridge may create a problem for the proposed dyke, he said.
In the past, locals had held meetings with MP Sarojini Hembram, officials of the PWD and water resources department but the dyke has remained a dream. PNN