Epidemic breaks out

BHUBANESWAR, Nov 3 (PTI, UNI) — A grim battle was on to provide food and water to lakhs of people facing the twin scourge of cyclone and floods and spectre of epidemic loomed large with outbreak of gastroenteritis even as Army relief teams today moved to interior parts of coastal Orissa.

With people forced to drink contaminated water in the submerged areas where decomposed bodies floated around, the outbreak of gastroenteritis was reported from the worst-hit Paradip port city and certain other areas.

A report from Cuttack said an epidemic had broken out in several pockets of the district, one of the worst hit districts in Orissa in Friday’s cyclone, as the district administration had sent an SOS seeking the immediate re-deployment of the armed forces for the smooth distribution of relief material.

Collector Pradeep Jena said on Wednesday that the withdrawal of the Army and other forces from Cuttack for deployment at Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara had seriously hampered relief work in the district which till now had accounted for 115 deaths.

Meanwhile the district administration had launched a massive sanitation and disinfection drive in the district .

Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan said a team of Andhra Pradesh doctors with paramedical staff had been sent to the Choudwar with adequate medicines to check the epidemic.

According to reports, a large number of people, including women and children, were admitted to the local ESI Hospital and nursing homes. They were suffering from diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, high fever and other water-borne diseases.

Similar cases had also been reported in the SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack and the Cuttack City Hospital.

However, there was no report of any casualty on this account, he said.

Chief Minister Giridhar Gamag, however, told PTI on the telephone that no epidemic had broken out yet and the authorities were taking necessary preventive measures.

But, he said, relief and rescue was Kampered as road links in the affected areas were still to become fully operational.

Battling against heavy odds, Army teams for the first time moved to the interiors of the worst affected Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts and an official release in Delhi said armed forces had so far rescued 16,000 marooned people.

Paradip presented a pathetic sight with earthmovers and dumpers scooping bloated and decomposed bodies strewn all around for a mass cremation even as the police sought to protect relief vehicles from starving mobs.

The Navy had cleared approaches to berths in Paradip port and was trying to restore power to commence normal operations. Public health experts and Health Ministry officials on Wednesday chalked out a strategy to prevent outbreak of diseases in Orissa, while Red Cross officials were coordinating with international agencies for relief measures.

The Health Ministry had rushed a team of 20 doctors and essential medical supplies to the affected coastal districts to prevent outbreak of epidemics, Dr S.P. Aggarwal, DGM told reporters.

Another team of four entomologists and epidemiologists left Delhi in the morning for Bhubaneswar to advise state health authorities on steps to be taken to prevent disease outbreaks.

The emphasis was on disinfecting water to prevent the outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases and life-saving supplies such as oral rehydration salts (ORS) and intravenous (IV) drips to help those already struck by disease.

A top-level management group comprising senior officers of the DGHS is meeting daily to review the medical relief operations.

Medical camps had been set up at Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and here and mobile medical vans were being airlifted to the affected areas, an official release said.

Sixty heavy and light boats were flown in from Chandigarh on Wednesday for relief and rescue operations and another 60 were being brought from Allahabad, the release said.

Thousands of packets of food and water were airdropped to marooned people while INS Gharial, a large landing ship, brought potable water for distribution among the affected.

The Chief Minister said he was yet to get any estimate of casualty or damage from the affected districts for want of communication links. Satellite phones given by the Centre were being sent to districts to establish contacts.

Mr Gamang said the casualty figure might not be as high as was being reported since a large number of people had been evacuated following the cyclone warning.

The administration, however, had so far no information about the situation in Jamboo, Mahakalpara and Suniti panchayats in Kendrapada district. These panchayats accounted for the highest number of 10,000 deaths in the 1971 cyclone.

Major rivers of north Orissa have wrought havoc in Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar and Jajpur districts as the entire coastal stretch from Balasore to Paradip has turned into a vast sheet of water.

Meanwhile, an eight-member inter-ministerial central team under the leadership of Union Agriculture and Cooperation Additional Secretary R.C.A. Jain arrived here today to assess damage of their respective departments caused by the super cyclone in Orissa.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will have a special meeting here on November 5 to discuss relief operations for the cyclone victims of Orissa. Chief Ministers of all Congress-ruled states have also been invited to the meeting, party spokesperson Anil Shastri said.

NEW DELHI: Rail links were re-established successfully in Orissa, except to Paradip, and that would take another two days, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters here, she said one of the most important Howrah — Chennai rail route via Orissa had been fully restored. This would be of great help particularly for providing speedy relief material.

Apart from this, the Howrah- Bhadrak rail link had also been re-commissioned. As far as Paradip was concerned, most part of the soil below the rail route was totally washed and hence it would be difficult to commission that route without filling those areas.

Two special trains were being run daily to clear the stranded passengers, she said.

Meanwhile normal power supply would be restored within a month, Chairman and Managing Director of the Powergrid Corporation of India R.P. Singh said on Wednesday.

Orissa which required 1600 MWs had plunged to 700 MWs before the second supercyclone hit the state late last week. "Demand in gridco system crashed by 700 MW, power supply at coastal Orissa, was completely damaged. No power supply is available at Paradip, Kendrapara, Pattamundai, Jagatsingpur and Nimapara.’’

Mr Singh said mobilisation work by the corporation was on and like in Gujarat it would take 15 days initially to gauge and operate and another fortnight in the mopping up operations.

Army a godsend to end
Orissa Vandalism
From Sandeep Sahu
Exclusive to The Tribune

BHUBANESWAR, Nov 3 — For a state government too stunned to react to the unforeseen situation, the arrival of various army contingents has come as a godsend.

Reports of looting of relief materials meant for the hungry and the marooned who were spared by the killer cyclone that hit eight coastal districts of Orissa last Friday, had unnerved the state government which is yet to come to terms with the sheer enormity of the devastation.

With a police force hopelessly inadequate in numbers and grossly ill-equipped to carry out an operation of such a gigantic scale, the virtual takeover by the army of relief and rescue operations in the worst-hit districts on Tuesday, the Girdhar Gamang government can now breath just a little easier.

Talking to newspersons on Tuesday night, after taking stock of the situation, Lieut-Gen S. S. Sangra said about 2,000 men belonging to various wings of the army like medical corps and engineering services were now in effective charge of the relief and rescue operations, besides providing security to the vehicles carrying relief material for the cyclone-ravaged.

Allaying apprehensions on this score, Lt General, Sangra assured that the number of Army personnel engaged in the onerous task of clearing roads, providing succour to the marooned and — last, but not the least — ensuring that vandals do not have a field day, was adequate.

Crisis, they say, brings out the best and the worst in man. Nothing proves this old adage better than the devastating cyclone and its traumatic aftermath. On the positive side, there have been a number of instances throughout the affected area of impromptu volunteers risking their lives and limbs to rescue the old, the infirm, children and women.

In the capital city of Bhubaneswar young men were saving the helpless slumdwellers from the wrath of the elements even as torrential rains, accompanied by gale reaching up to a speed of over 200 km per hour on that black Friday night. Not content with merely shifting the vulnerable to safer places, there were scores of youth — like Debashis Pattnaik of Press Colony — who arranged food and shelter for them at the shortest possible notice.

As if to disprove the notion that a sprit of selfless service and human brotherhood, evidenced by instances of the above kind, is the natural response of mankind to a crisis of stupendous proportions, there were cases galore of people using the opportunity to steal, pilfer and loot whatever they could lay their hands on.

The day after the devastation, three trendily-clad youths in their early 20’s were spotted by this reporter with big-sized metal cutters chopping electric and telephone wires in the I.R.C. village area. When confronted, they were gracious enough to leave this sizeable bundle of wires there and flee. But there were plenty of others who cared two hoots for such niceties.

In the unit-2 market, young men — most of whom, going by looks, were from well-to-do families — merrily looted garments from the road side shops even as others watched and protested.

For three full days, the National Highway Number 5 connecting Calcutta with Chennai appeared to have been taken over by the anti-socials. People reaching Bhubaneshwar recount horrifying instances of extortion of money and loot of relief materials by hordes of young and the not-so-young. In one particular incident, the thugs — after having looted an entire truckload of eggs coming from Andhra Pradesh — took away the tarpaulin and even the ropes used to cover the goods even as the truck driver and his deputy pleaded with them with folded hands to spare the latter.

Even Journalists were not spared. Surendra Patra, the ‘Sunday’ Correspondent in Orissa, had the mortification of his life when he was abused and manhandled by antisocials — despite pleading with them and showing his press card — for his ‘crime’ of not carrying enough money in his purse while on a scooter trip to Jajpur.

With all forms of communication — T.V., Radio, newspapers and telephones — cut off for four days, the immediate aftermath of the holocaust proved to be fertile ground for rumour machines. Rumours appeared to be rolling out of the assembly line thick and first.

One particularly ingenious one had the Giridhar Gamong government dismissed and Sushma Swaraj appointed Governor of Orissa. Another, equally preposterous, had the prediction of a "APOCALYPSE" in `Malika’ — the Oriya equivalent of Nostradamus’ monumental work — coming true.

Even before one was found out, the rumour mongers were ready with the next. Unfortunately for the tribe, the restoration of power (and consequently TV) and telecommunication in the next couple of days may play spoilsport and shut down the rumour factories.

Preparations for mass
burial on in Paradip

PARADIP, Nov 3 (PTI) — Earthmovers and dumpers moved the bodies strewn all around this port town and its outskirts as the administration prepared for a mass burial five days after the killer cyclone left a devastating trail.

And there is no one to shed a tear or two for those who have met a gory end at the hands of one of the worst cyclones of this century for hunger has overtaken emotions.

Stench emanating from bodies bloated and decomposed beyond recognition and animal carcasses made the task of those operating the machines, who are acting as pallbearers for the dead, rather difficult.

But the officials kept goading them to complete the job at the earliest to prevent the outbreak of epidemics.

And the tale of those who managed to survive the fury of the storm that hit with a windspeed averaging around 250 kmph was heartrending.

A fury of another kind is building up among the survivors who had nothing to eat but only dirty water to drink for the past four days. The target is the administration and any thing that moves with relief material.

Among the villages completely destroyed in and around Paradip were Sandhakuda, Gobindapur, Dhinkia, Kabalibhutia, Nuagaan and Mohalia where no official is ready to hazard the estimation of loss of lives as access to these villages either remained inundated or blocked by trees felled by the storm.

The Paradip College building, one of the few structures to withstand the storm, provided shelter to those who could muster enough courage and strength to reach there.

"Roofs of our houses were blown off like a pack of cards and in the night we crawled and stumbled to reach the college building," said a resident of a nearby village while complaining that not a single official had visited the areas so far.

The villagers have no hope of getting anything from the crops this year and the situation looks alarming as most of the agriculturists have lost their seeds due to the ravage of the flood water that followed the storm.

The fisherfolk were the worst hit. They had knowledge of the devilish storm coming their way but could do little except watch and cry.

There was no news of most of the fishermen who had ventured into the sea before the storm hit the town and their relatives do not have much of hope of seeing them alive.

The distribution of relief is still a far cry as the administration is groping for manpower to supply the ration to the affected areas along the coast, most of which still remain inaccessible.

Aid pours in for cyclone hit

NEW DELHI, Nov 3 (UNI) — US President Bill Clinton offered $ 2.1 million in emergency food and essential supplies and the Australian, British, German, Italian, Canadian and Dutch governments pledged help and sent messages of sympathy to the families of victims of Friday's super cyclone that struck the coastal districts of Orissa.

The United Nations announced a financial assistance worth $ 5 lakh and rushed 120 tonnes of relief material and 50 tonnes of high protein biscuits to Orissa. UN organisations are in close contact with the state and Central governments in carrying out the relief measures.

"Our hearts go out to the Indian people, and we are prepared to do what we can to help", Mr Clinton said in a statement in Oslo, where he attempted a peace deal between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

In a message to the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Inter-Parliamentary Union Secretary-General Anders B. Johnsson said: "I wish to convey to you and through you to your Parliament and the people of India, the expression of IPU's solidarity, sympathy and condolences in this tragic situation".

The British Government announced a grant of Rs 2.3 crore for the purchase of relief materials through non-governmental organisations, CARE and Christian Aid.

Expressing grief, Canada's Minister for International Cooperation Maria Minna announced a contribution of Rs 4.35 million through the Red Cross and Red Crescent towards relief work.

"Our thoughts in these difficult times are with you", said German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, in a message to External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, he expressed his country's desire to help the disaster struck people of Orissa.

The Danish government announced an urgent supply of 10,000 blankets through the UNICEF and the Ministry of Defence to those affected.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Italian President Massimo D'Alema sent messages of condolence and grief to the Prime Minister on behalf of their peoples.

Different states also rallied in support of the victims. Gujarat, which was hit by a similar disaster last year, is rushing relief materials in a special train tomorrow, besides an assistance of Rs 2 crore. The CII is sending over 25 tonnes of food through the West Bengal Government.

The Madhya Pradesh Government has invited tenders for 2,000 tonnes of "poha", 30,000 pieces of polythene sheets and 50,000 candles, which will be sent to the areas.

Vehicles with relief materials to Orissa will be exempted from excise tax, the government said, even as the All India Federation of Transporters (AIFT) appealed to transporters to rush supplies to Orissa on top priority basis. The AIFT is also organising "langers" in the affected areas.

All BJP ministers in the Union Cabinet, Members of Parliament and state assemblies and legislative councils pledged one month's salaries towards the cyclone victims.

NGO's like Care, besides others like the Anand Marga Universal Relief Team, are active in giving succour to the people. The Union Ministry of Steel has mobilised over Rs 2 crore and sent truck loads of essentials to the areas. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has rushed doctors and drugs.

Many political parties, groups and individuals also announced help and sympathies to the bereaved families. Among them were Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Pondicherry Chief Minister R.V. Janakiraman, AIADMK, DMK, TMC, The Swaminarayan Sect, Kanchi Mutt, Meghalaya IAS Association and Tamil Film Star Vijayakanth.

Meanwhile, the World Fellowship of Religions issued an appeal asking people to observe Divali with austerity in view of the natural calamity. "The best gift of Divali would be in the form of relief to the needy at this crucial hour", it said.