It is rather unfortunate that father of an eight-year-old girl who was drowned during incessant rain and flash floods during cyclone Titli on October 11 walked about 11 km carrying the body in his shoulders in Gajapati district.
The deceased had gone missing from home and was traced by the villagers near a spring after eight days. The girl, Banita, is the daughter of Mukunda Dora of Rayagada block.
Despite best efforts by both the Government, the losses caused by the Titli could not be minimized as many thought the cyclone would have its impact only in coastal areas, especially in Ganjam.
The Doppler Radars installed in Paradip, Gopalpur and Visakhapatnam tracked cyclonic storm Titli from its very origin to landfall that helped the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to make the forecast.
Cyclone Titli which had landfall on October 11 near Palasa in Andhra Pradesh had wrecked havoc in some parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Till date 61 were confirmed dead of which 49 were from the worst affected Gajapati district. Two of its blocks such as Gosani and Rayagada suffered huge losses of life and property.
The cyclone coupled with incessant rain and flash flood marooned lakhs of people in the district. Besides, a massive landslide in the Mahendragiri hills destroyed a village Baraga under Gangabad gram panchayat in Gosani block. 17 persons of 21who were sheltering in a cave near the village were killed due to the landslide. And 30 more were killed elsewhere in the district caused by wall collapse, drowning and roof damage etc.
The scenes of severely damaged houses, roofs, homes, broken doors, windows, uprooted trees, plants, damaged bridges, potholes in roads and severely affected agriculture fields were a common spectacle. More than 6 million people spread over 8,125 villages under 128 blocks of 17 districts were affected. The loss is pegged at worth Rs 2,765 crore.
Meanwhile, the Odisha Government has sought Rs 1,000 crore interim relief from the Centre. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written to the Prime Minister to release the amount.
Out of 56,930 houses damaged, 20,000 are fully collapsed and 36,508 houses partially damaged. Crops in about 2.63 lakh hectares were damaged whereas 34,951 domestic animals were killed.
In Gajapati district, the people were not properly informed on the cyclonic storm. Many stayed indoors. In some places, people's representatives like Ward Members alerted people over phone at the last minutes.
Many told this correspondent that no Government officials came to their rescue. Neither were there any announcements through public address systems.
Many also complained that nobody reached them even after four days of the cyclone. Besides cooked food at some places, people were not provided with emergency relief.
In some places where walls collapsed and roofs damaged, the people were not repairing their houses as they had no other places to stay.
They were also waiting for officials to come and assess the damage and provide them compensation.
People in affected areas suffered hugely as far as livelihoods are concerned. Daily wagers were sitting idle in homes finding no work and trying to repair their partially damaged houses leaving aside severely damaged houses only to make it livable.
In many places, paddy, maize and vegetable cultivations have been damaged. Plants uprooted. Small shops and business establishments in districts that also suffered losses lay shut.
Though Government had started restoration work on war footing, still approach roads to villages and major thoroughfares were not repaired. Restoration of electricity supply to villages would take more time while the Government had restored power supply in road points and roadside towns.
Getting safe drinking water was a far cry for many as many water bodies and supply lines had been affected. People were depending on polluted wells and ponds. Consequently, there was a grave a risk of spread of water borne diseases, including cholera, as more and more people were using unsafe water and flood water of rivers.