Climate change: Odisha's Udayakani still haunted by super-cyclone destruction caused 25 years ago

Devastated by a super-cyclone 25 years ago, coupled with the relentless rise in sea levels, Udayakani, a coastal village in Odisha, has witnessed a steady decline in agricultural productivity and livelihood opportunities.

Udayakani, a coastal village in Odisha, located 20 kilometres north of the renowned Sun Temple of Konark in Puri district, once renowned for its vibrant traditions, is now faced with a grim future as the impacts of climate change ravage its landscape.

Devastated by a super-cyclone 25 years ago, coupled with the relentless rise in sea levels, the village has witnessed a steady decline in agricultural productivity and livelihood opportunities.

The Migration Story put out a detailed report that not only examines the financial and agricultural decline in the area but also the changing social fabric of the once vibrant village.

Situated in the Bay of Bengal region, Udayakani is considered most vulnerable to climate change and climate security risks.

According to India’s National Disaster Management Authority, the Indian subcontinent is exposed to nearly 10 percent of the world’s tropical cyclones, most of which form over Bay of Bengal and strike the eastern coast, where Odisha is located.

The impact of the super-cyclone, along with the growing volatility of the Bay of Bengal over the years, has led to a rise in soil and water salinity and the subsequent loss of agricultural land, livelihoods and, even social prospects like marriage, the report noted.

Vaidehi Kardi (64), a resident of a neighbouring village Tandahar, told The Migration Story, "When the soil turned saline, our crops shrivelled, gradually. The water too turned saline and our lives withered. It has become difficult to get our sons married. Everyone feels our village is not safe anymore."

The state recorded 28 per cent erosion along its coast largely owing to cyclones and floods.

In March 2023, the state government stated that 16 villages in the state had gone under seawater and 247 other villages were likely to face displacement due to increasing sea levels.

"It took us a long time to recover from the devastation after the super-cyclone, our houses were completely destroyed, and most of us lost our agricultural land. The sea had moved inward so we relocated further towards the inland. We tried to gradually revive our lands but without much success. Now it feels like the sea is moving inwards every year", Budheswar Kardi (74), a native of Udaykani village told The Migration Story.

Change in the village's social fabric

Arjun Pradhan (58), who has been looking for a bride for his son Abhijeet for the past five years told The Migration Story, "There was a time when men in our village got married by the age of 20 or 21. Today, we have bachelors in their 30s who are yet to find a suitable match. I asked my son to migrate not just to find a job but also a wife. We usually have certain restrictions when it comes to matrimonial alliances but I don’t wish to impose any on my son. I want him to be well settled.”

A 32-year-old man, who also hails from Udaykani and did not wish to be identified, revealed that he had been rejected more than four times by women who his family approached with a marriage proposal, the report noted.

The cyclone did not only affect the marriages prospects but has also made it hard for friends and relatives to visit as well.

"Anyone who comes to visit us never stays the night, for one, we don’t have water that’s fit to drink. Even bathing is out of the question for visitors, who fear skin ailments", Kanchan Swain (50) told The Migration Story.

With young men leaving to seek livelihood elsewhere, the village is now home to the elderly who are left behind to tend their land.

Abhijeet Pradhan, who migrated to Hyderabad, told The Migration Story, "My work here is not permanent — I work at a hotel as a waiter. I have switched three jobs in the last two years. Whenever I am out of work, I return home. Who would agree to marry someone with such an uncertain future?"

Devastation caused by salinity

Jagannath Kardi (53) told The Migration Story, "we tried to revive our crops but the salinity had taken its toll, our crops never grew to their full capacity. The vegetables we cultivated attracted pests. We could barely manage to harvest enough for our own consumption, let alone sell the produce to earn a living.”

Udyakani and its neighbouring villages once had wells, groundwater recharge and borewells for irrigation but repeated cyclones damaged it all, rendering the ground water saline. Villagers have been completely dependent on rain-fed agriculture ever since.

N A Ansari, a social activist working in the region and the owner of a community radio station documenting and disseminating information on climate change, told The Migration Story, "The impact of climate change has become gradually visible in these villages, prompting the forest department to plant casuarina forests to mitigate the impacts of sea ingression, but there has not been a proper assessment yet of the damage and impending consequences, to help these villages."