living with fear and anxiety in the relief camps of the district administration, panicky fishermen were rummaging through heaps of rubbles and broken house articles, besides boats and nets and other fishing equipment, after dreaded Phailin wrecked havoc and ravaged their dwellings near Gopalpur on October 12.
Though the fishermen had been shifted by the district administration on October 11 to different cyclone shelters and school buildings, they had been praying to their sea god for a low intensity cyclone and wind so that their houses were saved and their livelihood equipment never got damaged or lost. The women folk after having left homes looked apprehensive about the safety of the house articles. The male members were in a sad mood thinking about the safety of their fishing nets and boats.
The Pioneer team visited a few relief camps from Gopalpur to the end of Ganjam coast near Prayagi. As most of the fishermen communities were living near the beaches of the Bay of Bengal, the administration had targeted to evacuate them on a priority basis. Even those, who showed reluctance to leave homes and household articles, were forcefully evacuated as the administration was dead set to ensure that no casualty took place due to the gale.
After spending the harrowing night, the fisher community people returned to their homes but to their agony, they found only piles of debris. The house had been ravaged, while their thatched and asbestos roofs had been swept away. The Pioneer team reached Bauxipalli, situated near the Gopalpur beach and saw that most of the thatched houses had been destroyed. Hundreds of trees had been uprooted and roads had been blocked as the trees laid on them.
Gopalpur was in fact in the eyes of the storm as it suffered the most and especially, it was the fishing villages, which bore the brunt of the cyclone. According to B Satyamma, a villager, his and fellow members’ livelihoods were directly affected due to the massive damages of the fishing nets, boats and catamarans.
The very next day, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had visited the village and assured them of full rehabilitation so that they could start their occupation afresh. He also instantly declared 50 kg rice per family and ordered payment of Rs 500 for each affected families even as the administration announced distribution of rations free of cost for two months.
Then we reached Nolia Nuagaon, 35 km from Gopalpur, under Ganjam block. The people were angry over the district administration for not supplying relief materials and they even had blocked a road approaching their village and gheraoed a few Government officials during Chief Minister’s visit to Agastinuagaon. They demanded relief immediately and sheets of tarpaulin to cover their thatched and asbestos houses.