Paradip, Jan. 8: The state’s first resettlement project for sea-erosion-hit people is stuck in land acquisition tangle. With private landowners refusing to part with their land, the proposed resettlement colony at Bagapatia has become an unviable proposition.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik took the decision to relocate the 571 families living in the vulnerable costal villages in Satabhaya cluster at a meeting in 2008. However, no substantial progress has been made since then as 132.97 acres to put in place the resettlement colony is yet to be fully acquired.

Official sources said 84.47 acres of land belongs to the government, while 48.50 acres is privately owned. Of this, the administration has so far been able to take possession of the entire the government land and only 16 acres of private land. Private landowners on the remaining 32 acres have approached the judiciary seeking high compensation, said Kendrapara collector Niranjan Nayak.

With the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act becoming coming to effect on January 1, 2014, the acquisition of the said land has allegedly become more difficult.

“The residents of Kanhupur and Satabhaya villages are worst hit by sea erosion,” said district collector.

The sea has already gobbled up five clusters of seven villages in Satabhaya gram panchayat in Rajnagar tehsil of the district. Gobindapur, Kharikula, Mahanipur, Kaunria and Sarapada have already gone under the sea in the past four decades.

People living in Satabhaya and Kanhupur villages under Rajnagar tehsil are literally living on the edge in the face of unabated erosion by the sea over the years.