Amphan batters coastal pockets of Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur

Kendrapada: Packing in gusty winds, Cyclone Amphan hit the coastal districts of Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur on Wednesday, triggering massive tidal flooding in low-lying seaside regions.
The tidal waves churned up by the ingress of winds battered the shores wreaking havoc at many places. While the saline embankments caved in at many places, they are on the verge of collapse elsewhere, leaving the seaside villages exposed to high tides and further catastrophic flooding.
Cyclone Amphan buffeted the low-lying coastal areas forcing many thousands into emergency cyclone shelters.Hundreds of mud-walled thatched houses were destroyed, trees uprooted in the torrential rainfall that lashed both the districts. The devastating Amphan also swept away the electric poles, wires and other infrastructure, plunging several areas into darkness. The downpour that began in the early hours of Wednesday left many low-lying areas under knee-deep water and paralysed normal life. Panic gripped the seaside villages of Satabhaya, Gupti, Pentha Jamboo, Batighar, Suniti, Kansarbadadandua, Ramanagar, Baulakani and other villages in Kendrapada district owing to the overflow of saline water.
“The district administration had shifted many seaside villagers to cyclone shelters on Tuesday,” Sambeet Satapathy, the district emergency officer of Kendrapada, said.
“The ingress of tidal waves in Dahibara, Ambiki Balitutha, Chatua, Japa, Krushnachandrapur, Padmapur and other seaside villages in Jagatsinghpur district caused extensive damage to agricultural land and houses. Amphan led to copious amounts of rainfall as it hit the coastal pockets. Water entered the villages close to the shore following a high tide owing to the cyclonic storm,” Kanhu Charan Dhir, the additional district magistrate (ADM) of Paradip, said.
The tidal waves also transgressed the weak saline embankments at many strategic points inundating the crop areas in several villages like Praharajpur, Olasahi, Sasanapeta, Naukana, Gupti, Bheda, Talachua, Rangani, Suniti, Amarabati, Gumara, Rajendranagar, Pravati, Banipala, Batighar, Badatubi, Sanatubi and others in Kendrapada district.
According to reports, more than 4,000 hectares of agriculture fields were inundated with saline water in Kansarbadadandua, Jamboo, Pertachena, Kandarapatia villages in Kendrapada district. Similar ingress of seawater was reported in parts of Pentha, Tantiapala.
Abhinandan Manna of the seaside village of Kansarabadadandua said, “Many trees were uprooted in our village. We are not staying in a cyclone shelter.”
Three cement benches meant for the tourists and a portion of causirina forest were devoured by the sea in the Siali village of Padmapur gram panchayat under Earasama block in Jagatsinghpur district on Wednesday.
“About 45 sluice gates and a major portion of the saline embankments in the seaside villages of Rajnagar and Mahakalapada blocks of Kendrapada district are on the verge of collapse. But the authorities have yet to repair it,” alleged Jagabandhu Nayak, the former chairman of Rajnagar block.
“Prawn farm owners have been illegally damaging the saline embankments to allow the flow of saline water into their farms in the seaside villages to breed shrimps, but the authorities are not taking any action against them,” Bijaya Sahoo of Kandarapatia village said.