Orissa begins to rebuild itself
From T.V. Lakshminarayan
Tribune News Service

BHUBANESWAR, Nov 13 — Welcome to "WAR ORT". This airport signboard in the capital city of Orissa, which read "Welcome to BHUBANESWAR AIRPORT" till the night of October 29 is a tell-tale symbol of how howling winds racing at a speed of between 160 km to 260 km changed the landscape of coastal Orissa on that fateful day.

"Everything has gone with the wind", says the Orissa Minister for Energy and Health, Mr Niranjan Patnaik. "All that we built so painstakingly for the past 50 years — schools, hospitals, ports, roads, power — has been swept away by the cyclone".

The cremation of thousands of bodies, destroyed homes, power-starved towns and villages, dead phones, uprooted giant trees and floating carcasses bear testimony to the minister’s statement.

Official figures, which many relief workers term as grossly underestimated are mind-boggling. More than 7,600 persons dead, 2,000 injured, around three lakh cattle perished, ten lakh houses damaged and more than 111 lakh persons affected. Twelve lakh hectares of paddy and more than 32,000 hectares of non-paddy crops have been wiped out.

A fortnight after the country’s biggest cyclone subsided, signs of its fury are still emerging. Paradip, Jagatsingpur, Kendrapara, Rajnagar, Mahakalpada and other coastal towns and villages, which took the worst pounding, are under the threat of an epidemic scourge. Relief workers returning from there say there is no place on earth which stinks more. Half-burnt bodies due to wet wood, rotting carcasses and foul-smelling water all around has made life for the living a nightmare. Water-borne diseases have started breaking out. A majority of the people are suffering from diarrhoea.

Adding to their misery has been the near non-existence of the state administration. Had it not been for the timely help by the Army and the volunteers sent by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, the magnitude of the tragedy would have been manifold, says a cross-section of people who have witnessed relief work in several areas.

The Chief Minister of the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh is a hero of sorts in this coastal state. The volunteers from Andhra Pradesh were the first to reach for helping the cyclone-hit people. Be it the first road that was cleared or the first medical team to arrive, they were all thanks to the men from Andhra.

State officials, doctors, teachers and even policemen were nowhere to be seen for the first five days after the cyclone pounded coastal Orissa. It is only now after the water has started receding in most parts, roads are getting cleared and relief work has started gathering momentum, that the state government officials have arrived.

Residents allege that even Bhubaneswar, despite its numerous VVIP residents, including the Chief Minister, had to wait for nearly 10 days to get electricity.

State officials however, express satisfaction at the good work done by the joint venture power utility firm saying more than 1,300 persons worked day and night to restore electricity in a record time.

According to the State Energy Minister, Mr Patnaik it will be too early to celebrate as the state has only managed to repair the electricity network. To put them in a fine working order will take several months. What were gigantic electric polls till yesterday have fallen like nine pins and are littered all over the towns.

The Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, who undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas on Friday, said life was slowly limping back to normal in the worst affected areas of Ersama, Paradip, Vasudevpur and areas northwards to Chandipur.

He emphasised that the relief work would have to be continued in some areas for several weeks and in some areas for several months, depending on the requirement. To immediately overcome the problem of housing, adequate supply of polythene sheets had to be ensured for constructing make-shift houses. The problem is, however, that the required polythene sheets are not available in the country. They will be made available as and when they are procured.

Commending the excellent job done by the Army, the Air Force and the Navy in hostile weather conditions, the Defence Minister said at several places he saw tractors at work and farmers ploughing their land with the help of bullocks.

"It reflects the indomitable spirit of every man and woman to fight in the face of adversity". This alone will see through the rebuilding of Orissa, he commented.

Relief pours in for Orissa
From Our Correspondent

SIRSA, Nov 13 — The head of the Sachcha Sauda sect, Sant Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, has mobilised his followers for help to the cyclone victims in Orissa.

His followers have collected essential commodities weighing 1500 tonnes for the victims. The train carrying the relief material was flagged off last evening.

Talking to mediapersons, Mr Gurmeet Singh said a 10-member team had been sent to the affected parts in Orissa to assess the damage and the kind of help required so that his dera could set up a camp there.

Replying to a question, he said he would like to adopt children orphaned in the calamity.

BATHINDA: The Dost Welfare Society has contributed 62 bags of shoes, 280 bags of clothes and foodstuff in the relief material being sent by the district administration to Orissa. Mr Ramnik Walia, president of the society, said members of the society had collected items of daily use from various localities.

PATIALA: The local Lions Club (central) has donated clothes, 10 quintals of rice and wheat flour and two tins of ghee for the cyclone victims. The relief material was handed over to the district authorities on Thursday.

BATALA: The Subdivisional Magistrate, Mr A.K. Sinha, said here on Saturday that the Batala subdivision had contributed seven of the 13 truck loads of relief material sent to Orissa from Gurdaspur district.

YAMUNANAGAR: The district administration has sent 11 truck loads of relief material for the cyclone-hit areas of Orissa.

Mr Rajiv Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, said here on Friday that the trucks were carrying eatables, medicines, clothes and utensils. He appealed to the people of the district to come forward and contribute liberally for the cause.

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh Governor, Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, who is also the president of the state Red Cross, has sent a draft for Rs 51,000 on behalf of the Himachal Red Cross to the Governor of Orissa for providing succour to the victims of the super cyclone.

The state BJP will contribute Rs 5 lakh for providing relief to the cyclone-hit people. Expressing deep sorrow over the natural calamity, BJP leader Suresh Chandel said it was the duty of every individual to come to the aid of the affected people. All party MPs and MLAs of the state would donate one month's salary for the purpose. Party workers would also contribute for the relief fund.