Chhatrapur: This day in 2013, extremely severe cyclone storm Phailin made landfall near Gopalpur in Ganjam district, leaving a trail of disaster in its wake. The people of this district say the fear and apprehension they experienced October 12 night can never be forgotten.
The cyclone made a landfall at about 9:00 pm with a vengeance. Torrential rains and heavy winds caused a massive disaster. Mud houses caved in, huge to small trees were toppled, utility poles were uprooted, roads were washed away and farmlands destroyed. The picture the district bore the next morning resembled one straight out from dystopian film.
Many lives could be saved thanks to the preventive measures taken by both the district administration and the government. For the preparedness and evacuation, the state government received appreciation from the United Nation as well as the central government.
37 lakh people were directly or indirectly affected by the cyclone. A total of 2, 38, 000 houses, including 71, 200 ‘kutcha’ houses, had collapsed. Another 65,000 ‘kutcha’ houses and 19,500 ‘pucca’ houses were also damaged. Standing crops in four lakh hectares of land had been destroyed. As many as 1,590 cattle, 5,080 goats and sheep also perished.
Yet, the people of this coastal district tried their level best to come to terms with the nature’s fury and to pick up the threads. With the assistance from the World Bank, the government started constructing 2014 ‘pucca’ houses for those coastal people who lost their ‘kutcha’ houses to the cyclone in the district. More than 16, 000 families living in Chhatrapur, Ganjam, Chikiti, Rangeilunda and Khallikote blocks off the sea and Chilika coast were included under ODRP yojana.
That said, hundreds of houses are yet to be constructed under ODRP. Similarly, construction works on road, drain, drinking water and electricity supply and community centre are lying half constructed. Four families near Podapadar in Chhatrapur block are still living in their ‘kutcha’ houses and waiting for their ‘turn’ to get ‘pucca’ houses.
PNN