400 Orissa villages still inaccessible
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 16 — The Centre today admitted that 19 days after the supercyclone hit Orissa about 400 villages located in the interiors were still not accessible either by land or by water.

In contradictory statements, the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, who is also heading the task force specially created by the Prime Minister to coordinate the rescue and relief operations in the state, said, it was not so that food packets were not being dropped in these villages but there were no reports about any rescue operations being carried out in these villages.

Going by the statement of the Defence Minister it was also apparent that no medical help had reached these 400 villages. There were no estimates available about the number of dead or about those still living in these inaccessible villages.

Speaking to mediapersons after the third meeting he and the other members of the task force had with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the public sector undertakings (PSUs), the Defence Minister was unable to explain as to why these 400 villages were still not accessible. He was also not ready to comment whether this grave lapse was the a result of lack of information available from the state government.

He, however, said the state government was coordinating with the Agriculture Ministry in Delhi. The task force was acting on the information being passed onto it by the Agriculture Ministry.

The Defence Minister said he had "come to know only today that 5 per cent of the villages in Orissa were still inaccessible either by land or by water". He added that there were about 8000 villages in the state.

He said he had given immediate orders to ensure accessibility to these villages. But was unable to say when this task could be achieved or what was the state of affairs prevailing there.

Having admitted this fact, the Defence Minister was, however, quick to point out, "it is not so that food packets were not being dropped in these villages". However when asked whether any rescue operation had been carried out in these villages, the Defence Minister said, "I have no idea about the rescue operation".

In what could be a pointer to the fact that there was lack of coordination between the Centre and the state government in carrying out the relief operations, he had no answer to questions like — if food packets were being dropped in these 400 inaccessible villages then how come till today that there was no information that the situation was so grave there? The only thing the Defence Minister said was it was up to the state government to supply us with the information.

Mr Fernandes ruled out the possibility of imposing President’s rule in the state in the wake of the reports that the state government had been unable to cope up with the grave situation prevailing in Orissa. He, however, said there was no doubt that this was a "national calamity" and the Centre was treating it as one.

He said already Rs 650 crore had been made available for the rescue and relief operations in the state. Efforts were underway to generate more money and all PSUs had been asked to contribute accordingly.

Mr Fernandes said presently there was no need to impose a special "calamity tax". "If there is a thought in this regard, we have still not reached that level," he added.

As regarding his meeting with the CEOs of the PSUs, the Defence Minister said of the 150 PSUs under the government over 100 had sent their representatives. He said the PSUs had been asked to adopt the 57 gravely affected blocks in the 10 districts of Orissa and to start their operation within the next 24 hours.

He said at the meeting with the PSUs, a decision had been taken to cover the 10 districts with medical and other facilities which they could make available. These would include the deployment of personnel, setting up community kitchens and organising logistical support so that food could reach every family in the state.

Mr Fernandes said the Army was still active in the affected areas and during the past 24 hours the Border Road Organisation (BRO) had also been deployed. Already the state and national highways had been opened by the Army. Following the visit of the Surface Transport Minister to the state and a recce carried out by the BRO, roads at the district-level and those leading to the villages were also being taken up for repairs, he added.