Orissa's loss may be Kerala's gain. Many able-bodied villagers of Satabhaya, which is on the verge of being gobbled up by the mighty Bay of Bengal, have strangely discovered Kerala's address to earn a livelihood.
The village, with nearly 350 families, is just a few feet away from the sea that has already eaten up major portions of human settlements. Having lost their means of livelihood, the people are migrating to far off places every year. And most of the breadwinners' destination is Kerala.
Ask 62-year-old Nimai Charan Prusty how the exodus from Satabhaya in coastal district of Kendrapara to Kerala has been going on for over a decade and he has a long story to narrate.
“We had five acres of land. My eldest son set out for Kerala when my ready-to-harvest cropland was first sand-cast and turned unfit for agriculture due to salinisation. As the sea kept transgressing into our land and home, my other three sons became jobless. They then joined their brother in Kerala,” said Mr. Prusty.
“Whatever money they send us, toiling day in, day out in plywood manufacturing units is now our main source of income.”
Similarly, all menfolk in Basudev Behera's family is in Kerala. He is the lone male member staying back in the village to protect women and take care of little children.
Mysterious beginning
The beginning of the journey of Satabhaya's men, better known as climate's first generation orphans in the country's disaster dossier, from the east to south coast has been a mystery. It is said two men from the village first landed in Kerala many years ago and others followed them.
At least 500 men and teenagers from the village are now working in Kerala. There is hardly any family which does not have a member in Kerala. The sea has already swallowed up five of the seven hamlets — Gobindapur, Kharikula, Mahanipur, Kaunria and Sarapada —under the Satabhaya gram panchayat. It is feared that Satabhaya and Kanhupur will be wiped out of the map over the next couple of years. Sea erosion has been taking place on a 50-km stretch in the region.
All families have reconstructed their houses two or three times during the past decade for protection against the advancing sea.
People here are desperate to get rehabilitated away from the coastline. But delay on part of the administration has forced them to live at the mercy of nature.
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