Ganjam: Five fishermen from the seaside Podampeta village in Palibandha panchayat in this district were put to untold sufferings after tidal waves washed away their houses late Monday night.
The affected fishermen are CH Agadhu, B. Krushnamurty, CH Gareya, S. Purohit and A. Gureya.
The villagers are now living under the open sky after tidal waves washed away their dwellings and belongings.
Since then, 24 hours have passed but the district administration is unaware of the development and has not taken any steps to help the victims.
The affected villagers held the negligence of the district administration responsible for their sufferings. They alleged the administration has not provided them cyclone resilient houses under the World Bank-aided Odisha Disaster Recovery Project (ODRP).
According to reports, the families of around 120 fishermen live in the village. Out of that, 15 families have not got cyclone resilient houses under the ODRP scheme.
The affected families led by sarpanch Dillip Chhotray had met Ganjam block development officer Jyoti Shankar Ray August 17 and submitted a memorandum to him. However, the administration has not taken a call on their demands, the victims said.
It is feared that with the sea remaining turbulent, 10 more houses near the coast might soon get washed away by tidal waves, villagers CH Musleya, B. Babaji and D. Kameya apprehended.
As the marauding sea was surging past the coastline the administration had shifted some villagers to a new place and renamed the village as New Podampeta in 2015.
PNN
