Land strip full of bodies
Cyclone-hit cry for medical aid

BHUBANESWAR, Nov 8 (UNI, PTI) — The death toll in the super cyclone rose to 3451, the government said, as Ersama, a seaside strip in the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur, submerged till yesterday, surfaced with hundreds of decomposed bodies and carcasses.

The Army which could reach the area yesterday, had suggested to the state government to evacuate all the survivors from the area to a safer place and put a task force to immediately launch the cleaning operation of the decomposed bodies and the large number of carcasses.

The Army and Air Force today decided to set up a base in the area to start the relief and rescue operation after the state government located 1500 bodies from the area with the receding of sea water. The entire area was totally submerged as tidal waves rising to the height of eight metres inundated the vast stretch when the killer cyclone struck on October 29.

Brig R.S. Rawat, Deputy Commander of the ‘Operation Sahayata’ jointly launched by the Army, Navy and Air Force in the cyclone-ravaged areas, said he along with the state Home Secretary flew over the area today and found a large number of carcasses started decomposing and eaten by predators. "The whole area is stinking. It needs immediate attention,’’ he told newspersons here.

Altogether, more than 1.5 lakh cattle perished in the disaster, he said.

Reports of hundreds of deaths were pouring in from the worst hit Jagatsinghpur district in coastal Orissa as roads were cleared by the Army to reach the inaccessible areas shattered by the cyclone.

Jagatsinghpur bore the brunt of the fury with 2,464 deaths followed by Cuttack (329), Puri (287) and Kendrapada (149). As many as 12 of the 30 districts in the state had been affected in the cyclone and subsequent floods in Bhadrak and Jajpur district.

The reports said over one lakh heads of cattle had perished in Jagatsinghpur.

One crore chlorine tablets dispatched by the Gujarat Government arrived here yesterday.

With rotting human bodies and animal carcasses floating around, and delay in arrival of train wagons loaded with bleaching powder and phenyl, the Orissa Government today requested the Centre to despatch one crore more chlorine tablets for disinfection of water.

Health ministry officials, quoting state government reports, maintained that deaths due to gastroenteritis were 10 so far. Seven deaths due to outbreak of gastroenteritis have been reported from Niali and three from Olatpur so far, they said.

The Centre was planning to send additional one crore halogen tablets soon, they said.

The most urgent task for the state administration is to clear the bodies and carcasses and disinfect the water. Several regions of Orissa rely on pond water which is now contaminated with rotting bodies and needs to be urgently disinfected, the officials said.

"We have provided bleaching powder for disinfection of water sources but we do not have enough supply for dealing with the carcasses," health official said.

More than 2,700 bags of bleaching powder have been used in the coastal districts but that hardly has been sufficient to counter the aftermath of the cyclone.

Nobel Prize winner voluntary organisation "Medicines sans Frontiers" has sent a cargo aircraft containing 30 tonnes of relief materials for the super cyclone victims.

Three medical vans, shelter materials and other relief items have been sent by the Holland-based agency in its cargo plane.

Meanwhile, the government today announced waiver of telephone bills of up to Rs 1,000 in the rural areas of cyclone affected districts in Orissa besides several other concessions in telephone rental and call charges.

During this period, no registration fee for booking of telephones would be charged in rural areas, Union Communication Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said adding that call made from village telephones would cost 50 per cent cheaper.

Even in the affected urban areas rental has been waived for these two months.

Reviewing the restoration of telecom services, Mr Paswan said additional repair parties should be rushed immediately from nearby telecom circles to the affected areas of Orissa.

Mr Paswan also announced that satellite phones would be permanently positioned in Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Paradip to restore communications on emergency basis in case of sudden failure of telecommunications due to natural calamities.

Vice-President Krishan Kant has donated one month’s salary to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund to help provide relief to the cyclone-affected people of Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Kant, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, has called upon the members of the Upper House to donate generously for the purpose, an official release said here today.