The watch tower built by the tourism department a decade ago is also supposedly in danger since the base has been destroyed by tidal incursion.
The Belabhumi Upakula Surakhya Manch of Erasama block held a protest meeting calling for the construction of a permanent embankment along the Siali sea beach. Jagatsinghpur Collector Parul Patwari visited the region on Friday to assess the situation.
Locals claim that the soil along the 30 km stretch between Hawakhana and Siali was severely eroded, but the government has done nothing to erect embankments, causing the residents of nearby panchayats like Gadbishnupur, Janakadeipur, Nardia, and Goda as well as Kalabedi, Silai, and Padampur to suffer sleepless nights. They lived in a settlement that was drowned in the sea for around 450 metres.
The watch tower built by the tourism department a decade ago is also supposedly in danger since the base has been destroyed by tidal incursion. There were allegedly four breaches on the embankments along the Siali beach caused by tidal waters last year, but nothing was done to fix them. Even though sandbags were placed and bamboo barriers were built, those solutions were only temporary. The Water Resources department, on the other hand, erects bamboo fences and fills sandbags along the coastlines every year as temporary protection from the sea because the CRZ standards forbid the permanent construction of saline embankments within 500 metres of the sea shore.
Prativarani Patra, the sarpanch of Padmapur panchayat, warned that “if prompt steps to defend against sea erosion or the construction of saline embankments are not done, we would escalate the movement to satisfy our demands.” After assessing the issue, Patwari gave the locals the assurance that the government will quickly find a solution.
Prasanta Patnaik