High tides wash away houses, turtle eggs

BERHAMPUR: The erosive waves of the Bay of Bengal have again started to threaten villages on the coastline of Ganjam district. During past two days, the Podempeta village in Chhatrapur block of the district witnessed the fury of sea waves. The village is inhabited mostly by marine fishermen.On Sunday night, two thatched houses were swept away in the high tides. The houses belonged to PL Appeyya and B Matheyya.The erosive action of tidal waves has also washed away hundreds of Olive Ridley eggs in the last two days.Sea waves entering villages like Podempeta is not new. It has been happening since 2006. Almost every year, the waves enter the village, but it was mostly limited to monsoon. This is the first time that sea waves entered the village in April.Last year during the monsoon, around 20 houses were damaged in the high tides at Podempeta. At nearby Arjipalli, sea water had entered a pond. The villagers say they are now living in a state of panic. They alleged that till now no concrete measures have been initiated to check the threat.In the past these villagers had also staged demonstrations demanding remedial measures to check sea erosion near their villages. The latest incident coincided with the  full moon day on Sunday. These villagers allege that erosion of sea coast near their villages has increased due to increased construction activity for the Gopalpur port inside the sea. This intervention has increased erosive action of sea waves near their villages, they say.The Ganjam administration had decided to take measures to rehabilitate the affected villagers in 2009. Since the rehabilitation sites are located far away, the villagers are reluctant to shift. “If we shift to the areas identified for rehabilitation colonies by the administration, it will be too far for us to come to the sea everyday for fishing,” said Ramanuj, a villager.Last year, the district administration had identified a place near Podagada-Jhadipadar and the land was even developed. Construction of houses, however, is yet to begin.Meanwhile the villagers have demanded land records in their favour and creation of  amenities at the site.