The residents of Bagadia, Biswali, Nuagada, Kothi, Mangarajpur, Bhutamundei and Paradip Gada Panchayat have been facing waterlogging in their locality during the rainy days but are yet to get any relief. They blamed bad water discharge system and river mouth blocking for the waterogging woes. The villagers while informing to the mediapersons on Thursday said that waterlogging in the seven panchayats have become regular woes since years. It happens due to blocking of drainage system connecting Samagola to Atharabanki on the outskirts of Paradip port town.
Many influential people have unlawfully occupied the river creeks at Balijhari and Bauriapalnda near Paradip using the water reservoirs for fishing gheries. Ironically, the administration was not taking any action against these unauthorised occupants, said Bibhuti Rath, a local leader. Moreover, he added that Paradip Gada School has become waterlogged for past two weeks but no step has been taken yet to release the water from the area. The residents alleged that stagnant water has caused skin deceases, malaria and dengue fevers in the villages. Representatives of the victim villagers Pabitra Tarai, Surendra Mohanty and Adikanda Sahoo warned of launching agitation against continued apathy by the administration.