Bhawanipatana: Come monsoon, thousands of people living in riparian pockets along Hati river in Kalahandi district live in fear. Continuous riverbank erosion has posed threat to many villages. With no flood control measures till date, the river plays havoc to land, crop and properties, every year, a report said.
Erosion of riverbanks has been a major cause of concern of the people in Kalampur block.
“Floodwaters enter villages, and damage houses and crops. Over 10 houses have been flattened by the floodwaters over years. As the river keeps on advancing due to erosion, the houses of Jayram Ghi, Yudhistir Pujari, Bilat Majhi and Prasad Majhi have come to the brink of collapse,” the locals said.
Devastating erosion by the river has devoured vast tracts of arable land and the floods have left the farmlands sand cast.
The erosion of the riverbanks continues to be more devastating at Temara, Khengarguda, Biripur, Matikhala, Jampada, Karmel, Balichhada, Bankapala, Rasdumer and Sanakuti.
People in over 21 villages face the fury of the floods and riverbank erosion throughout the monsoon. Scores of villages remain cut off from the rest of the world for days together.
Local said: “Over 50 acres of farmland, including five acres each at Balichhada and Biripur, four acres at Karmel and two acres at Khengarguda have merged with the river over the last two decades.”
Samiti member of Balichhada, Bikash Behera, said, “Over the years, Hati river has eroded a stretch of 15 metres into my farmland.”
Last year, low-pressure induced floods left over 30 acres of land in the area sand cast. Over 140 acres of land under Junagarh block were sand cast. Locals rued that despite repeated floods, the government is not taking up flood control measures like embankments and dykes at vulnerable areas.
The authorities of the OHPC-Indravati hydropower project often release water, which causes flash floods in riparian areas, locals added.
Samiti members Bikash Behera and Gajindra Bihar demanded that the funds sanctioned for the embankments should be utilised for flood control measures. They alleged no measure has been taken yet to check the erosion.
In 2010, the government had sanctioned Rs 1.46 crore for embankments. A tender was floated, but the contractual agency which was award the work did not take up the work in time.
The department concerned floated tender for the second time. The previously selected contractual agency moved the Orissa High Court against the second tender.
Executive engineer of the irrigation department, Prashant Kumar Das, said if the local people spare land freely, the embankment work would be possible. The water resources department has made stone-packing of the banks at some places.
It was learnt that the executive engineer of the water resources department has been asked to prepare a detailed report on the plight of people in riparian pockets.
PNN
