Kendrapara, Sept. 18: The state government has initiated the process to relocate residents of vulnerable seaside villages of this coastal district in a resettlement colony expeditiously.

“The residents of Kanhupur and Satabhaya villages are worst hit by sea erosion. They will be shifted to the safety of Bagapatia rehabilitation colony by March 2013,” said Durga Prasad Behera, collector, Kendrapara.

Earlier, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had decided to relocate the 561 families in the coastal villages.

Once the relocation process is complete, it would be Odisha’s first ever rehabilitation and resettlement project for people affected by sea erosion.

While people are protesting against acquisition of their land elsewhere, things are different in Satabhaya. The residents here are deserting their ancestral land as sea is steadily eating into their settlements.

“The rehabilitation colony at Bagapatia is being set up to accommodate Satabhaya residents’ permanently. The 132 acre required for the resettlement colony has been acquired. A community building has come up at the site. Work on the school building is undergoing at the project site. The construction activity will pick up after monsoon. Laying of roads and drinking water apart from the construction of dwelling units for each of the displaced family will be taken up,” said Behera.

The project was delayed mainly because of tangle in acquisition of private land. Some of the displaced families were unwilling to move to the resettlement colony. But these issues had been amicably settled. The administration had decided to complete the relocation process by March 2013, he said.

Each of these families would be provided with 10 decimal of homestead land, two acres of cultivable land and a pucca house. However, there would be no financial compensation for the resettled families, according to the rehabilitation package.