Cyclone ‘Dana’ struck the Odisha coast near Bhitarkanika, Kendrapara in the early hours of October 25, 2024. The magnitude and extent of devastation is yet to emerge fully, amidst news report that Bagapatia, a resettlement village in Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district is inundated with several feet of tidal water. There is no report of deaths as such, but the residents in this remote location are marooned. This article seeks to highlight the story of Bagapatia, which was declared a resettlement location for people living in Satabhaya whose lives were endangered from coastal erosion due to the combined effect of sea level rise and storm surge.
Satabhaya, which once comprised seven villages, has been facing coastal erosion since 1970s if not earlier than that. The deadly cyclone and resulting storm surge of 1971 killed thousands in this area and led to the first phase of relocation to a place called Okeilpara. Those who continued to live in Satabhaya, however had to contend with the impact of yet another storm surge during the super cyclone of 1999. Their farmland was inundated, making it unproductive. In addition, coastal erosion was aggravated. In the following decade, around the year 2007 and 2008, several low-pressure systems brought the sea literally into the house of Satabhaya’s residents and forced them to demand a resettlement package from the government.
They mobilised resources on their own and continued their campaign, their efforts finally paying off when the Odisha government agreed to relocate them to Bagapatia, approximately 8 km from Satabhaya. As per this resettlement plan, in the first phase, 271 families were given 10 decimal land and further assistance through ‘Biju Pucca Awas’ to construct their own houses. Additional number of families were included in the subsequent phases, taking the total to 571. Several hundred more lived in the same area, without a formal land allocation.
A multi-purpose cyclone shelter and school have also been constructed although the approach roads and other basic facilities such as health services, income opportunities remain underdeveloped after nearly a decade. The site of resettlement was a very low-lying area that required leveling up to 20-30 feet as the land was never developed from the point of view of a habitat settlement. During recent fieldwork that one of the authors of this article conducted in June 2024, residents of Bagapatia shared that they had made additional efforts and investments towards land-leveling which otherwise is leading to recurrent floods during the monsoon, increasing their vulnerabilities further due to a lack of sewerage facilities and healthcare services. The title of the land is yet to be regularised in the name of beneficiaries which means they are yet to get a final ‘patta’ for land on which they have already constructed a house.
The most pressing problem that that local residents have highlighted was a lack of income opportunities at Bagapatia, as compared to Satabhaya. The main livelihood options for people in Satabhaya were farming and fishing, both options being unavailable at Bagaptia — the place of their settlement. The distance from the sea being considerable, fishing as a livelihood choice did not count any longer. Some continue to engage in farming, although very few own land and the soil too is unconducive for a good yield.
It was pointed out by the residents that they were promised agricultural land at the place of resettlement at the time of their relocation. But such a promise has been entirely forgotten. In effect, the resettlement has taken away livelihoods, forcing most of them to migrate to all parts of the country, particularly to the southern states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu. As one member from Bagapatia put it, “In Satabhaya, we used to cultivate a paddy variety called Nilamati which is as good as Basmati rice. We used to catch crabs and fish, and life was good. We moved to Bagapatia due to coastal erosion. But in the process, we have lost our livelihoods. Earlier, a few used to migrate. But now, you see buses are parked here on a routine basis to take people to other states and nearly 50 per cent from here, including the elderly and women, go out for work.”
The most important aspect of the resettlement process is that while a threat of tidal inundation directly from the sea remains low at this new location, the overall risk is no less due to a river located in the vicinity of the settlement. As is often the case, tidal inundation in various coastal areas can occur through rivers and other water channels which may have been the case at the time of Cyclone Dana. However, for local residents, the risk from the river is further high due to the presence of a large number of crocodiles who inhabit the waterbody and thus pose a new threat, at the same time depriving the people of using its water.
Cyclone Dana has exposed the much-hyped resettlement of climate change victims. The resettlement process for the climate-displaced people, which started in 2008 in one of the most climate-vulnerable coastal areas of Kendrapara district, did not integrate climate change risks with that of disaster. While the sea level rise swallowed their previous homes, climate-induced disasters have isolated them in their own settlements. Several features under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for example, Good Health and Well Being (Goal 3), Clean Drinking Water and Sanitation (Goal 6), Decent Work (Goal 8), Safe and Resilient human settlement (Goal 11) could have been better incorporated.
Under the best practices, the resettlement areas must be better off for the relocated communities in terms of livelihoods, income generation, and access to civic and environmental services and have more climate resilience as compared their previous settlement. On the contrary, Bagapatia inhabitants are risking a triple displacement with a large number of villagers leaving home in search of employment in far off locations. A national policy to address the specific aspect of resettlement and rehabilitation of climate-displaced people in India is an urgent requirement. In fact, a private bill — Rehabilitation and Relocation of Persons Displaced due to Climate Change Bill, 2022 — was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2022 but is yet to be approved. This incident from Cyclone Dana should redirect our focus to the enormous challenges that the climate change victims face not just for a relocation site but thereafter to continue their lives.
Biswanath Dash, teaches at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. Avilash Roul is international Advisor on Climate Change Risk and Transboundary Rivers, GIZ. Views expressed are the authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth