News
Orissa’s super cyclone tragedy blows on
Sudarshan Chhotoray
Jagatsinghpur
The super cyclone that hit costal Orissa on October 29,1999, left 10,000 people dead, close to 1.5 crore homeless and threw the economy of the region out of gear. Almost five years on, not much has changed for the survivors. Many are still running from pillar to post for compensation. Electricity is still a dream in many villages that had power before that fateful day and poverty is still rampant, despite crores of money being pumped in.
Just a visit to Irasema block in Jagatsinghpur — one of the worst affected districts — confirms the sorry state of affairs. Half-naked children and men with spindly limbs dot kachcha roads and narrow, dirty lanes. Talk to them and you will know that scars of the super cyclone are yet to heal.
Fifteen-year-old Susmita sustained a severe eye infection as she had to read by kerosene lights for her exams. “Our children’s future hangs in the balance. Non-availability of electricity has also affected farming. We have to buy kerosene at Rs 22 per liter from the black market, more than double the price it should have been available from the government,” says Susmita’s father Prabhakar Akal, in Ambiki village. And Ambiki is not alone. There are more than 86 villages in just Jagatsinghpur that are living in the dark.
Jagannath Jena of the state owned electricity supply company, cesco, says restoration of power is a work in progress. “One hundred and fifty villages have been left out due to shortage of funds and mismanagement by a private company that had been given the job. The corporation has earmarked Rs 4.51 crore to speed up restoring the supply of electricity in the remaining villages and we are confident that by June 2004, we will achieve this target,” he says.
“I wanted to run a tailoring center-cum trauma counseling center for cyclone widows like me, but the lack of electricity has been a major hurdle,” says 58-year-old Arati Mandal in Dahibar village. Mandal lost her husband as well as her only son in the cyclone. While she did get compensation for her husband, she did not get any money for her son’s death. Now, she makes ends meet with the support from a social organisation. Similarly, 29-year-old Parul Karan, who lost her husband and eight other relatives, has still not got the compensation money for her father-in-law. She works on a two-acre patch of land along with another villager. “It has been difficult for me to sustain myself by share-farming. There’s hardly any irrigation and unfavourable monsoons have also added to our woes. That’s why I have to work as a wage labourer as well,” she says.
According to government sources, at least 50 to 60 cases of death claims are yet to be settled. The reasons being defective documents and irrelevant claims by some people. Additional tehsildar of Irasema SC Beura says, “Primary survey and enquiry into these claims has been completed by the special committee appointed by the state government. The implementation has been delayed due to elections and very soon the government will try and settle these claims”.
Along with delayed compensations, reports of misuse of compensation money are also rampant. Basanti Pal, a 32-year-old widow of Kiada village in Jagatsinghpur district, lost her husband and son in the super cyclone. Upon receiving her husband’s death claim of Rs 75,000, fellow villagers and relatives forced her to remarry. After a year, the second husband left, taking the money with him. According to Action Aid, they know of 45 similar cases of remarriage and half of the women are in trouble.
As things stand today, more than Rs 1,200 crore has been spent by state and Central governments, including the special Central assistance of Rs 828 crore and World Bank assistance of Rs 257 crore. Most funds have been directed towards reconstruction and restoration activities. Besides, Rs 1,320 crore has been earmarked for six lakh Indira Awas Yojana houses, out of which 5,50,530 houses have been completed with Central and state government support. Apart from these grants, ngos and foreign donor agencies have spent millions of dollars on rehabilitation activities. And yet, thousands of cyclone survivors still live in despair.
Print this story Feedback Add to favorites Email this story
About Us
Advertise With Us
Print Subscriptions
Syndication
Terms of Service
Privacy Policy
Feedback
Contact Us
Bouquets & Brickbats
Tehelka.com is a part of Anant Media Pvt. Ltd. © 2000 - 2010 All rights reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment