The villagers of seaside coastal Rajnagar block have started a five-day-long Yajna at the sea beach to propitiate sea god “Baruna” to protect the sea side villages from sea erosion.
The sea has been crawling menacingly towards the coastal villages every passing year, posing a threat to the life and property of the local residents.
The Yajna will continue till March 16
Over last 73 years, it has become an annual practice at Pentha sea beach to organise Akhanda Brahmadhwani Mahayajna here. Brahma Abadhuta Baman Chandra Baba had started the Yajna in 1949. And from that year onwards, the Yajna is organised, stated Akhanda Brahmadhwani Mahayangya Committee secretary Khirod Rout.
According to Rabindra Kumar Padhiary, a local, the sea was about four to five km away from the human habitation of Kanpur. But the village took watery grave due to the crawling of sea. The turbulent sea has devoured most of the houses of Satabhaya. In past two decades or so, the sea has come closer to Pentha village. Earlier, the sea was nearly 1.5 to 2 km from the village, but now it is at a stone’s throw distance.
Notably, a geo-synthetic tube sea wall has been erected with technical support from the IIT Chennai, with funding of World Bank under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZMP). A sum of Rs 32.95 crore was also spent for the construction of the sea wall, which is the maiden project set up in the State to protect the life and property of 41,222 persons of 56 villages under Rajnagar block.
But the locals opined that the geo synthetic sea wall would not be able to protect the sea side villages in the coming years as its durability is now questioned. It is for this reason that in most of the places, the Yajna is organised for safety, peace and harmony in the area.