Rajesh Kumar Behera in Kendrapara, Orissa
Though late but the state government has finally all set to resettle the sea erosion prone villagers of satabhaya and Kanhupur in a safer place by preparing a blue print in this regard and the resettlement work is expected to commence within a month ,informed official sources..
Residents of the sea erosion prone Satabhaya and Kanhupur villagesare now going to be resettled at Bagapatia just 10 kilometers distance from Satabhaya .
The resettlement plan is ready and it has received the approval from the state government. informed the District Magistrate(DM) ,Sisirkanta Panda.
The Chief Minister has recently directed the district administration to speed up the shifting works to save the villagers from taking watery grave from the Bay of Bengal. In a 70-acre-stretch compact patch of revenue land, 711 erosion-hit families would be relocated. The cost of the resettlement project, which would be the first of its kind in the state, is estimated at Rs. 5 crore
The colony is going to have the infrastructure for providing basic amenities. The district administration is trying to make it a model village for human habitation. Provision for electricity, drinking water facility, Anganwadi centre, panchayat office, primary school, village community centre, buffer embankment and playground besides village pond for pisciculture is going to be set up in the resettlement colony,added Panda, the DM of Kendrapara.
Special emphasis will given to relocate the 1200-year-old Panchuvarahi temple to the colony. The temple is located in a hand shaking distance from the Bay of Bengal and on the verge of taking watery grave by sea. The State Archaeological Department would oversee the temple relocation work., Panda noted.
Notably, the two sea erosion prone villagers who known for their dare-devilry attitude in facing the onslaught of Bay of Bengal move from one place to another at least thrice a year in order to protect their lives and property from the ingress of sea water
It may be noted here that during the government of Late Biju Pattnaik , the first plan in this regard was drawn up in 90s with an estimated budgetary grants of about 1 crore . But the said plan had moved at a snail’s pace due to lack initiative on part of the then administrative agencies.As a result, the monetary allocation of about 82 lakhs continues to remain lying unused in civil deposit of Cuttack District Magistrate. At that time Kendrapara was a part of the undivided Cuttack district.
Later,the chief minister, Navin Patnaik,had laid the foundation stone of the proposed resettlement colony “Biju Nagar” at Magarkanda in February,2004 during the last election time .Though five years have already been passed but the resettlement colony is yet to be set up by the state government .which shows how the CM and the state government has been taking their issues seriously , alleged locals .
About four decades back the distance between the hamlets and the sea was about three kilo meters but now the houses exist within a handshaking distance from the sea. During, each high tide period, the sea water engulfs to the houses and lands.. The sea has been crawling menacingly towards the seaside village of Satabhaya and Kanhupur since long for which the hapless villagers are counting their days to be devoured by the sea.
Since the sixties the fast-moving sea water has eaten as many as four human habitations in these parts. What presently remains is a couple of places of human habitations at Satabhaya and Kanhupur.The region was also the mute witness to a worst catastrophe in 1971, when cyclonic storm had wiped out nearly 8,000 people in and around Satabhaya.
