large numbers of villagers have been spending sleepless nights in the riverside villages of Jajpur as the authorities are yet to repair the embankments.
The specter of impending flood is haunting the riverside villagers, thanks to non-repair of the river embankments in Bhuban, Chata, Kabatabandha under Dharmasala block in Jajpur district and many villages in Bari block and Dasharathapur block as in the past the breaches in these areas had created havoc.
In the devastated flood in 1982, Dudhia Ghai had collapsed like nine pins due to onslaught of the swirling flood waters; as a result about 34 villages had been marooned and thousands of houses had collapsed.
After the 1982 disaster, the Government had repaired and stone-packed the Dudhia Ghai. But due to lack of proper maintenance, the river embankment in Dudhia is unsafe.
Recently, many riverside villagers demanded before the authority to inspect the river embankments to gather firsthand knowledge about the safety of the embankments.
But the villagers alleged that the authority had been paying only lip-service towards their problems as the repair works had always been sub-standard. large numbers of stones were washed away in the rivers since long but the authority was not putting new stones at Dudhia and other areas. In pen and paper, the authority mentioned that six truck-laden stones were used to repair the damaged portions of theDudhia Ghai, but not a single stone was fixed by the authority recently, alleged Madan Mohan Das, a villager of Dudhia.
The river embankments at Uttarsasan, Bagula, Hajipur, Chandapur, Gousanagar and other riverside areas are also unsafe. After 2006 flood, the Government had decided to raise the height of the river embankments by about three feet to prevent the onslaught of the flood water, but the authority had raised the height by about one feet, alleged Sarbeswar Behera, a retired teacher of Bagula village.
The rampant corruption and irregularities on part of the Irrigation department has been an impediment for the proper repair and construction of the river embankments in these areas.
Some venal contractors in a clear nexus with the engineers and the ruling party leaders are on a looting spree, alleged the villagers.