10 days after repair work, river embankment in Odisha collapses; locals threaten protest

By Akshya Rout

Bhadrak, Dec. 21: Barely 10 days after repair work, a river embankment in Odisha’s Bhadrak’s district reportedly collapsed on Tuesday triggering panic among the locals.

The Mantei river embankment at Kanakpalli was repaired just 10 days ago. The length of the collapse is said to be over 100 feet and the depth is seven feet.

The villagers alleged that the embankment was broken in the last rains, so the Water Resource department had repaired it just 10 days back.

“We are living in constant fear of getting inundated with river water. The river water can inundate our village and farmlands at any time. The repair work was finished in just 10 days,” said Sk Rahmatullah, a local resident.

Sarpanch of Charadia gram panchayat Prashant Majhi said, “Stone packing was done on the embankment before. But the stones started to collapse. So we have informed the Irrigation department officials who have begun the first phase of the work.”

“The officials told me that the stones on the foundation of the embankment will collapse a bit in the initial phase. There is nothing to panic about,” Majhi said.

The locals threatened to launch a huge protest if the embankment is not repaired soon.

Officials of the water resource department could not be contacted for comments on the collapse.