Bhubaneswar: Odisha government is planning to relocate villages located on hilltops and foothills to prevent casualties from landslides during disasters, senior minister Suresh Pujari said Wednesday.
Of the six deaths reported during Cyclone Arnab in the state, five people died in landslides in Kandhamal and Ganjam districts. Ten other landslide victims remain missing in Ganjam.
Home to around 26 people, Gidipabali village on the border of Ganjam and Kandhamal districts disappeared from the map as a massive amount of sludge and debris cascaded down the hills due to cyclone-induced rainfall last week.
Pujari announced that a comprehensive survey is underway to map high-risk habitations, with a primary focus on landslide-prone districts such as Gajapati and Kandhamal.
Gajapati district alone has nearly 150 places vulnerable to landslides, the revenue and disaster management minister said.
Officials from Odisha recently conducted field visits to northeastern states to study established disaster mitigation practices for hilly regions, Pujari said.
“Once landslide-vulnerable settlements are identified, the state will construct new houses for the families living there in the plains through government welfare schemes,” he said.
Pujari said the surviving residents of Gidipabali village, who are currently staying in a relief camp in Kandhamal district, have also formally requested the government to provide them with land and a house in safer locations.
He said the government was contemplating providing the residents of Gidipabali village with houses under the Antyodaya Gruha Yojana.
The scheme was designed to provide permanent pucca houses to rural families who do not own houses or live in kutcha houses and are excluded from the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G).
Meanwhile, a report from Malkangiri district said a landslide occurred at Puriguda hill in Mathili block on Wednesday following incessant rain for the last three days.
Large boulders fell down along with mud on the road, but no casualties occurred, an official said.
The site was a few meters away from Puriguda village, and locals vacated their houses fearing more landslides.
Mathili block officials visited the spot, took stock of the situation and cautioned people against going near the hill.
This was the 11th landslide in the aftermath of Cyclone Arnab, which made landfall in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh October 28.
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