BRAHMAPUR: “Babu, cyclone
destroyed our house and grooves having fruit-bearing trees and now flood washed
away our house and ripening paddy crop. How can we live? We are shattered,”
lamented Durga Khuntia of Barapalli village under Poirashi gram panchayat in
Ganjam district.
Barpalli was one of the hundreds
of villages marooned in the flood waters. Boat was the only way of
communication to the cut-off village. Paddy fields and village roads looked as
if they were an artificial lake. Flood water of the Rushikulya and the
Kharkhari rivers submerged the village. Most of the starving people were
waiting for the relief.
Due to heavy rainfall and flash
floods, people could not come out of their village and stayed on the roof tops.
Six days’ incessant rains left them in utter distress.
It was not the condition of the
Barpalli village only, but an ensemble of hundreds of villages of the worst-hit
Ganjam district shred the same misfortune. Relief could not be reached due to
disruption of roads, but the district administration was reportedly trying to
enter into the cut-off areas by boats.
According to the villagers of
Podapadar, Madhapur, Baulagaon and Mahanadpur under Chhatrapur block, they
never faced such situations before. The twin calamity left them in a dismal
condition. Not only did the cyclone and flood destroy their houses, but also
wiped away their standing crops. Another village Allihabad and Karapada under Ganjam
block lost their livelihood completely. These villages are famous for betel
vines, betel nuts, paddy and banana crops which faced extensive damages of both
Phailin and Rushikulya floods.
Similarly, the condition of
Inginati village under Bhanjanagar block in the district was also horrible. The
village was marooned when water from the Badanadi and the Lohrakhandi rivers
entered into it. Though the water level was gradually decreasing, they were
still in fear of any untoward incident.
“We lost everything. We didn’t
get anything to eat due to incessant rain. Nobody is coming to help us,” said
Narmada Swain of Inginati area under Bhanjanagar block in Ganjam district.
Brahmapur city also faced the
worst flood situation. Low-lying areas like Gajapati Nagar, Gobinda Nagar,
Basudev Nagar and Neelanchala Nagar were inundated. Around 17 people from these
lower areas reportedly got affected in diarrhoea. Sanitation problem created headache
in these areas, sources said.
According to the official
sources, six people died in the recent flood and near about 60 villages were
still submerged in the district.
According to the official
sources, 17 people (cyclone-13, flood-4) died and 25.5 lakh (cyclone- 3.5 lakh,
flood- 22 lakh) have been affected in the twin calamity in the district.
Loss
|
Cyclone
|
Flood
|
Total
|
People Affected
|
3.5 lakh
|
22 lakh
|
25.5lakh
|
Evacuation
|
3.42 lakh
|
96,500
|
4.38lakh
|
Deaths
|
13
|
4
|
17
|
House Damage
|
1,64,629
|
1,79,205
|
3,43,834
|
Cow Sheds
|
65,371
|
32,550
|
97,921
|
Crop Loss
|
293900 ha
|
51566 ha
|
345466 ha
|
Cattle loss
|
1059
|
2975
|
4034
|
Besides, 4,650 hectares of
perennial crops have been damaged in the district, while 1,000 hectares of
lands left sand cast. Nearly 12,830 fishermen families have been affected.
Fishery sources spread over 60km coastline along with 21,355 hectares of inland
water fishery have been affected. About 3,404 boats in marine fishery and 6,798
boats in inland water fishery got damaged, while 10,202 fishing nets in both the
waters have also been damaged. In the Chilika lake, 887 boats and 4,080 fishing
nets got damaged in the calamities, said the officials sources.
When people were trying to stand
straight after Phailin’s jolt, the recent floods have veritably shaken the
backbones of the Ganjam people. The damaged houses could be built and the crop
could be raised, but the wound may take years to heal.
Published on October 29, 2013 in The Pioneer
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