Houses, crops damaged; scare of diseases looms
Though the devastating floods have gone, they have left their scars on the people. The residents here are in a state of shock and are struggling hard to cope with the adverse situation. How would they lead their life now onwards, this seems to be a big question.
The calamity has completely shattered the economy of the district, especially in rural areas of Pattamundai, Rajkanika, Rajnagar and Aul blocks due to two flash floods in the Brahmani , Kani and Kharasrota rivers within a month. Garadapur, Marshaghai and Mahakalapada blocks are the worst-affected due to the floods in the Mahanadi river system.
The recent floods have destroyed the farmer’s dream of earning a good buck this year as vegetable, jute, and paddy saplings were destroyed massively due to submergence of the agriculture fields.
The farmers of luna –Karandia Island are a worried lot as their vegetables were damaged in the recent floods. Now, they are spending sleepless night thinking over how to repay the debt that they had earlier brought from the local money lenders and co-operative societies.
According to Bhanja Kishore Parida, a resident of Balisingh , the vegetable growers produce cucumber, pumpkin, bitter gourd, ladies finger, brinjal, ridge gourd, pointed gourd, ivy gourd and other vegetables in their agriculture field this time. But the recent floods wrecked havoc by damaging the vegetable plants and vegetables.
According to Srikant Samal, a resident of Ayetipur, “I borrowed `20,000 from a local money lender and raised pumpkin, cucumber and ladies finger in two acres of land. But the floods have damaged all my vegetables, he said.
Similarly, jute plants were damaged as three to four feet high flood water inundated the agriculture field for days together. The farmers now feel that whatever jute produce would be got, they would be of sub standard quality.
Similarly, the Kharif paddy saplings were also damaged in most of the places in the district, said Fakira Barik, a farmer of Diha Balarampur
Meanwhile, shortage of food, clothing and essential commodities seems to be the biggest problem for the flood victims as the homeless persons have lost everything. Now, they are heading for an uncertain future.
“Even a week after the deluge, the devastations look fresh in several villages,” said a volunteer of a charitable organisation. All the tube wells and wells are yet to be disinfected; medico teams are yet to reach in several flood affected villages to check the outbreak of water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, cold and skin diseases, alleged several villagers.