Sea water level rises along coast

BERHAMPUR: Hundreds of families in five villages in coastal areas of the district spent a sleepless night on Tuesday following rise in sea water level.Though the fishermen community was warned of hostile weather, there was no information about a possible high tide.Sea water entered  Badaarjyapalli, Sanaarjyapalli, Badakaturu, Sanakatury and B.Arjyapalli villages under Arjyapalli police  limits.  No damage has been reported. The water level has started receding from Wednesday evening.Locals have attributed the incident to the expansion of Gopalpur port.  Earlier, the Coastal Protection Samiti had organised  dharnas before the Collectorate at Ganjam following which a team of experts was commissioned to study reasons behind rising sea water in the region. The State Government has allegedly paid no heed to the report.  The revenue officials have visited the affected areas to monitor the situation.