Even before the residents of the city could sum up the devastations caused due to Phailin, depression-propelled incessant downpour has pounded them so hard that they are reeling from knee-deep water.
Worse, in many low-lying areas people are living with scare as fishes, crabs, reptiles including snakes have made they way to the houses through rainwater.
Most areas of the Silk City including Gajapati Nagar, Basudev Nagar, Govind Nagar and Neelachal Nagar are inundated under three-feet water due to overflow of Ganianala and Bahadnala and choked sewer lines.
Former Deputy Speaker and veteran BJP leader Rama Chandra Panda, who visited the area on Wednesday, asked the Sub-Collector and BMC Commissioner to immediately rush JCB vehicles for clearance of garbage from drains and speedy passage of stagnated water from the area.
Ranjita Bihari, a house wife, said, “For the past two days we have not cooked our food due to water-logging and not a single person from the administration has visited the area to see our condition. Neither kerosene nor polythene sheets have also been provided to the inhabitants.”
Panda has demanded immediate supply of kerosene and polythene sheets to the affected people in slums and low lying areas including Basudev Nagar, Pechapecha Nagar, Govind Nagar, Neelachal Nagar, Golagoan, Panigrahipentha, Kathamentu Basti, lanjipalli and Ankuli. He has also demanded restoration of power supply without further delay and waive of energy bills to the consumers for October.
Mahesh Chandra Mishra, secretary of Neelachal Nagar Residence Welfare Association (NRWA) alleged that the officials, who visited the area this morning, said that the urbanites should bear with the problem as the administration has been engaged in relief works in rural areas. The entire Neelachal Nagar is reeling from three feet floodwater making life miserable.
Executive Engineer of Drainage Division Ashoka Patra said that two more JCB vehicles will be deployed to clear water-logging from drains soon.
Meanwhile, complaints about partisan distribution of relief materials are pouring in from Chhatrapur and Ganjam blocks. A group of people from Upulaputi village under Chhatrapur block, led by social activist Bhagaban Sethi, complained to the Chhatrapur Sub-Collector that the Panchayat officials were distributing relief materials on partisan line. They pointed out, “While some families have been given 2 to 3 quintals of rice, some others of Ward 9 have not been given even 50 kg of rice and polythene.”
Similarly, the Phailin victims in Pottlampur and Sarbhimpur villages under Pottlampur GP are yet to be provided with polythene sheets. There are also allegations that in Sanaramachandrapur GP of Ganjam block some people have misappropriated huge quantity of rice and other relief materials meant for yellow and other card holders. The district administration has reportedly directed its Supply wing to probe into it, sources said.