DISASTER

The trail of misery

SUHRID SHANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY

CYCLONES are a part of life in Orissa, but the people of the State's coastal districts were not prepared for a tragedy of the magnitude caused by the "super cyclone" of October 29.

"We have never experienced anything of this kind before. We thought it would be just another cyclone that would blow away our rooftops or damage the walls. But this turned out to be a killer," Naren Bahera, a fisherman whose entire village was washed away, lamented. Naren and his family survived, as he took heed of the warnings put out by the meteorological authorities 48 hours in advance. Along with his wife and two children, Naren took shelter in the hospital of Paradeep Phosphate Ltd (PPL) in Paradeep.

Now, he and his family face starvation. "The chira (dry cooked food) air-dropped by the Navy helicopters twice, is insufficient for so many of us. There is a scramble for food, and in the last six days I have been able to lay my hands on food only once, that too a small quantity of it. I shared the food with the members of my family. As for drinking water, we hardly have any," he said.

SUSHANTO PATRONOBISH
Relief camps provided succour although there was not enough food for the thousands of victims who were evacuated to these centres.

Even if Naren and his family survive this battle against hunger and disease, the future hardly has anything to offer him. He lost all his belongings, including his boat. "I have lost my means of livelihood and I now cannot afford to buy myself a new boat," he said. He has no news of his younger brother, a construction worker in Bhubaneswar. "He should be safe in the city, but he probably thinks I am dead." The only way before Naren is to find some work in the city. "If that does not happen, we will be reduced to begging for food in the streets," he said.

ALONG the National Highway near Cuttack, Mili Jena has pitched a tiny makeshift tent, made of a torn piece of cloth, supported on two sticks. With an infant in her arms, she waves down passing vehicles and begs for food. Her village was destroyed completely. She and some other residents managed to reach areas that were not inundated and finally chose to pitch their tents adjacent to the highway. Since her husband died a year ago, her brothers, who live in the city, were providing for her needs. "Now that my village is gone, they will not be able to send any money, and I will not be able to feed my child," she wept. But she hopes that her brothers will eventually find her.

Laxmi and her aged mother joined a group of people outside the house of Union Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar to voice their grievances. The slum in which she resided had been wiped out. "We have no place to go, no money. We have lost everything. There is no food, no water... We are as badly affected as those marooned people for whom food is being airlifted. We want the Minister to understand our plight too. We have had no food for the past five days. There is no drinking water, and we are dying," she cried.

There is similar, or perhaps worse, agony elsewhere, in areas not reached by the Army rescue teams. The "super cyclone" has indeed been a great leveller.