S’bhaya locals shift to rehab colony

The sea erosion-prone village of Satabhaya in Rajnagar Block turned into a beehive of activity as almost all the residents were seen busy to pack their belongings to shift to a resettlement colony at Bagapatia.

The Odisha State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) has taken initiatives for rehabilitating as many as 571 people of the village. OSDMA Managing Director Bishnupada Sethi reviewed the arrangements before the shifting. All the beneficiaries have been provided with housing assistance under Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana while other infrastructure like internal road, drinking water facility and electricity etc for a smooth living has been put in place.

One multipurpose cyclone shelter has also been constructed out of CMRF in the Bagapatia relocation site for ensuring safety of the beneficiaries during natural calamities like cyclone and flood. So far, 150 families of five such villages have shifted to the relocated site and are living there, said OSDMA sources.

As the marching sea has already engulfed many houses, so OSDMA took all care to shift the villagers to the safer site.

In another development, the relocated beneficiaries of Satabhaya village ceremoniously shifted the local deities having archaeological importance from the original village to the relocated site.

The village deity Ma Panchubarahi was also shifted to Bagapatia on April 20, as the village Satabhaya will be literally erased from the map after the shifting of the 400-year- old temple.

Services of the noted temple sculptors Pravakar Moharana, Ratnakar Moharana and other sculptors from Bhubaneswar were roped in to shift the temple. Large numbers of devotees gathered during the shifting ceremony of the deities.