1 July 2019 OUTLOOK 13
has led to myriad problems, and the
heat is the least of them.
Drinking water supply has been a
major casualty of the cyclone. Though
the government says drinking water is
being supplied through tankers, villag-
ers complain that they are too few. In
the absence of piped water, women
queue up all day at the village tubewell.
Children have stopped studying since
the cyclone, while hauler machines
rem ain defunct.
The daily progress report of the Central
Electricity Supply Utility, which sup-
plies power to the area, for June 17 shows
power is yet to be restored in 21 per cent
of the households in Puri division and 18
per cent of households in Nimapara.
Three 11-KV feeder lines, one in Puri and
two in Nimapara, are yet to be restored.
At this rate, power is unlikely to be
restored fully in the whole district before
the month-end.
Horticulture, mainstay of Puri’s rural
economy, has been thoroughly ruined.
The cyclone devastated coconut, betel
and areca plantations, choking a major
source of income. “There were over
1,200 coconut trees here. This was all
we had to live on. Now, 90 per cent are
gone, and dread to think about the
future,” says Sarat Sahu in what used to
be his orchard.
With the coconut trees gone, the coir
industry too is in dire straits. “Before
the cyclone, 30-40 coconut-laden vehi-
cles used to arrive daily, but just three
or four come now,” says Kamal Kumar
Acharya, secretary of the regional
marketing centre where coconuts are
procured from local growers.
The solution to these livelihood prob-
lems will obviously take time. What the
poor need immediately is a roof over
their heads and food. Most people got
dry ration supplied by the government.
But many are yet to rec eive the compen-
sation they are entitled to. The enu-
meration process is over, but money is
yet to be distributed.
“We need a total of Rs 5,227 crore for
relief to those affected by the cyclone,”
says special relief commissioner Bish-
nupada Sethi, who is in charge of the
entire restoration operation. “We have
been able to distribute only Rs 1,
crore so far because we are yet to rec-
eive money from the Centre. Hopefully,
funds will be released after the visit of
the central team on June 22.”
Even as Sethi assures that restoration
work is apace, there are complaints of
apathy against officials entrusted with
the job. “Had Fani happened before the
elections, politicians and officials would
have made a beeline to our village and
looked after us. Now that the elections
are over, no one is bothered”. That was
the refrain wherever Outlook went. The
Naveen Patnaik government, which
earned praise from various quarters,
including the New York Times, for the
evacuation of over a million people
ahead of Cyclone Fani (a claim no one
has the wherewithal to crosscheck or
dispute), surely has a lot to answer for
the tardy pace of restoration. OAfter enduring most of
the summer without
power, many villagers
are bracing for the rains
without a proper roof
on their heads.Sandeep Sahu
speaks to special
relief commissioner
Bishnupada SethiHow long will it take
for normality to be
restored fully in
areas devastated by
the cyclone?
Given the scale of
devastation, full restoration will take a
long time. Restoration of livelihoods, in
particular, is a long-term process. The
fishermen who have lost their boats and
nets have to begin from scratch. And it
will be some time before coconut and
betel vine growers rebuild their lives.
But we would be able to complete all
short-term restoration work, including
restoration of power, road and telecom
infrastructure, rebuilding of houses and
son on, in a year’s time.
In the absence of power, drinking water
is a big problem in many areas in Puri.
From day one, we used generators to
pump water from tubewells. We did
ration water supply in the first few days
and people cooperated by storing water
in overhead tanks. So, there is no water
problem nor any sanitation issues now.
Diarrhoea has broken out in many places
due to drinking water contamination.
After such a disaster, diarrhoea does
break out. But it never assumed epide-
mic proportions. Things were brought
under control in the few places that rep-
orted the disease by disinfecting water
sources, and bringing in additional doc-
tors and health workers from elsewhere.
Even 45 days after the cyclone, people
are still taking shelter in schools.
I admit people are taking shelter in
schools in some places. After all, no less
than two lakh houses were damaged.
We are doing our best to provide them a
temporary roof over their heads before
the rains come in. Those residing in
schools can move to other government
buildings like gram panchayat offices,
Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras and so on
when the shools reopen. In any case,
the schools are not open at night.
The government earned kudos for the
evacuation, but the same zeal is alleg-
edly missing in restoration work.
Not at all. But criticism is not unex-
pected when dealing with something
of this magnitude. O‘Full restoration
will take time’
Photographs: BISWARANJAN MISHRA