Paradip, Aug. 21: Tidal waves have triggered a breach at a vulnerable coastal embankment, inundating irrigated areas in at least two villages in Mahakalpada tehsil of Kendrapara district.

The tidal waves hit the ill-maintained Mahakalpada-Chapalli embankment, resulting in a 15-ft-long breach and opening the floodgates for tidal ingress into agricultural fields.

The saline embankment was erected about 20 feet above the seacoast. However, the embankment had become weak because of poor maintenance work.

"Nearly 200 acres of irrigated land in Baradanga and Badamatha villages were inundated on Saturday when tidal waved made portions of the embankment cave in. Besides the15-foot-long breach, landslides have been reported at other vulnerable points measuring more than a hundred feet," said Arabind Jena, sarpanch of Baradang gram panchayat.

"We are left to fend for ourselves. Flooding is bound to cause considerable damage to the crops. The embankment was in a bad shape. We had requested the local officials to take up repairs. But our please went unheeded," said Prahalad Rout, an affected farmer.

"Work has begun to repair the damaged portions. As a temporary measure, inflow of water is being plugged withsand bags. We have identified other breach-prone points. Measures to permanently repair these points are being undertaken on a war footing," said Purna Chandra Rath, an executive engineer of the saline embankment division.

"The saline embankment division engineers have been asked to undertake repair and maintenance work of weak embankments and sluice gates," said Kendrapara collector Debraj Senapati.

"The embankment built in 1970s to protect the coastal villages in Rajnagar is in a bad shape. Funds sanctioned for repairs on the embankment in the aftermath of the 1999 super cyclone have been misused coastal villages are bearing the brunt," alleged Gayadhar Dhal, spokesperson of a peasants' outfit.

"The maintenance of saline embankments is left much to be desired. There has been generous flow of funds. But they are largely siphoned off to compound people's misery. The sluice gates erected at strategic embankments points are left wide open leading to unabated ingress of tidal waves into the human settlements," Dhal said.