BERHAMPUR: With monsoon approaching, panic has gripped villagers of Mayurpada and rehabilitated fishermen of two colonies in Ganjam block due to lack of a permanent bridge over Saheb canal.

They are now depending on a bamboo bridge to cross the canal. 

Villagers apprehend that during rainy season, the bamboo bridge would be washed away with increase in flow of canal water.

Last year, Ganjam district administration had set up two colonies along Saheb canal near Mayurpada village under Odisha Disaster Recovery Project (ODRP) for rehabilitation of sea erosion-hit fishermen of Podempeta.

Sea erosion was first noticed in the fishing village in 2010. There were around 500 families in Podempeta then but by the end of 2011, sea encroached more than 1.5 km of Podempeta beach.

Several houses in the village were damaged due to sea erosion and subsequently, Ganjam administration decided to shift the villagers.

Accordingly, around 400 households were shifted from Podempeta to the colonies. 

But fishermen alleged that without adequate facilities, around 3,000 people were rehabilitated in ODRP colonies connected with Kantiagada bridge through the two-km canal embankment road.

After the embankment road got badly damaged due to lack of maintenance, villagers constructed a bamboo bridge over the canal to avoid the two-km route.

Later, they approached the local administration for construction of a permanent bridge over the canal, but to no avail.

At present, villagers of nearby Niladripur are also depending on the bamboo bridge to cross the canal.