Orissa rehabilitates families affected by coastal erosion

The Orissa state government has shifted nearly  4000 people living in coastal villages in Kendrapara district's Satabhaya gram panchayat due to their villages being engulfed by the sea.

"The state government has decided to rehabilitate the residents of Satabhaya and Kanhupur villages located close to the sea," Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samal told reporters after a meeting with the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaikin Bhubhaneshwar.

"We feel the life of 483 families at the two villages in Kendrapara district is in danger," he said adding the district administration was directed to immediately take up the matter with the villagers.

Each family to be rehabilitated would be given 10-decimal of homestead land, two acre of agricultural land besides an Indira Awyas Yojana house, the minister said.

Four alternative places - Magarkanda, Rabindrapalli, Dartrapada and Padmanabha Patna- have been identified to rehabilitate the 483 families. The proposed sites are located at a distance of about 6 km to 10 km from sea.

During the last 50 years, six villages had been engulfed by the ocean. The latest village which was engulfed by the sea was Kanhupur, sources said.