Even as the State Government failed to come to the aid of a distressed family which lost its sole bread earner during rescue operation in cyclone Hudhud, some Mumbai-based persons doled out much-needed financial help to it.
Sahadev Samal had died of pneumonia after he had to tussle in deep water to rescue several persons who drowned while being ferried during Hudhud in a river. The rescue boat which also carried among others the local Tehsildar and Sarpanch capsized while it was crossing the river to reach a cyclone shelter on October 11 last.
Samal without caring for life dived into the river and rescued several persons of the ill-fated forest boat that had about 35 persons on board. Two minor children died.
The district administration later disbursed a compensation amount of Rs 1.5 lakh to each deceased’s kin. But it skipped Samal’s family as in the autopsy report it was found that Samal died in heart attack.
Kaikeyi Samal, the widow of the deceased, and her three minor children were struggling to collect their bread but none cast a glance at them.
The sorry plight of the family, however, came to the notice of a Mumbai-based social worker Niraj Dinanath Diwan through a news paper.
He and his ten other friends, including Gagan Chandra Das, panchayat samiti member of Raghunathpur in Jagatsinghpur district, decided to help the family.
All of them donated fund and provided a cheque of Rs 85,000 to the hapless family members at their village in the presence of the local sarpanch.