Tidal waves damage crop in Odisha villages

Odisha Channel Bureau Kendrapara, July 15: Tidal waves smashed several coastal pockets since past 48 hours triggering breaches in coastal embankments and leading to submergence of vast tracts of agriculture fields in Rajnagar tehsil of Odisha’s Kendrapara district. Tidal waves have also wrought havoc in vulnerable in Satabhaya, Kanhupur and Rabindrapalli villages, according to reports received from far flung villages on Tuesday.Massive sea erosion threatened these human settlements and government was implementing a project to rehabilitate the erosion hit villagers. Reports reaching here indicated that over 2000 hectares of agriculture fields in were submerged with tidal waves making inroads while spilling over the saline embankment buffer erected about 20 feet above the coast.Besides, the maintenance of the coastal embankment here is left much to be desired.There has been generous flow of funds.But the same is being largely siphoned off to compound people’s misery, allege villagers.The sluice gates erected at strategic embankments points were left wide open and that led to the unabated ingress of tidal waves into the human settlements, charged locals.Tidal ingress has triggered breach in Rajnagar-Gopalpur, Keredagada-Alatanga, and Mahua-Jagannathpur saline embankments.Work was in progress on war footing to plug the breaches, said government officials.