By DWARKA PRASAD PATNAIK, OP
Chhatrapur: With impact of global warming becoming increasingly visible in Ganjam district, frequent incidence of seawater ingress has left coastal dwellers in constant panic, threatening their farmlands and livelihood.
The advancing sea has not only gobbled up chunks of settlements along the coast, but also hit the arribada process of rare Olive Ridley turtles hard, eating up their nesting grounds along the Bay of Bengal.
In this regard, Chhatrapur MLA Krushna Chandra Nayak has requested the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in a special letter to allocate funds to initiate immediate preventive measures by constructing guard walls.
Residents of Kantiagada, Khatuakuda, Niladripur, and Mayurpada villages under the Ganjam block have raised serious concerns with the district administration, submitting a letter requesting immediate steps to evacuate the entire population Friday after meeting MLA Nayak and Ganjam Collector V Keerthi Vasan. Following instructions from the District Collector, entry to the affected areas was sealed by the district administration.
The irrigation and drainage departments were asked to study tidal behaviour and prepare a detailed report on preventive measures to check further seawater ingress. Several villages right on the coastlines face a serious threat of being swept away by the waves due to the rising sea levels. Old Podampeta under Ganjam block, which once sheltered more than 200 houses and bustled with families, was evacuated by the district administration before sea waves started inundating the concrete structures.
Now completely abandoned, the village is left with only a few dozen houses, while others are already in the process of getting submerged by the sea. The situation is not limited to villages in Ganjam block. Ar Jyapalli village under Chhatrapur block and Ramayanapatna under Chikiti block are on the brink of destruction due to the high tidal ingress.
Notably, Arribada, the process of mass nesting of the Olive Ridley turtles, occurred relatively later this year from March 14 to 17 with only 2.05 lakh turtles laying eggs as compared to over 8 lakh last year. The turtles shifted to another place towards the Rushikulya estuary for mass nesting this year due to coastal erosion in Old Podampeta beach.
This phenomenon traditionally occurred in mid-February along the stretch from Old Podampeta beach to Bateswar beach near Kantiagada. Forest officials and experts blamed the shift on coastal erosion caused by excessive seawater ingress.
The experts feared that the Olive Ridley turtles may not turn up here next year due to loss of nesting grounds to the advancing sea.