Bhubaneswar: An eerie silence enveloped one of the cyclone shelters at Rajnagar in Kendrapara. Amid the uneasy calm, Puru Swain gathers few of his belongings to make space for his family of six, including his ocotgenarian mother Kuntala. His eyes well up with the very thought of being homeless by tomorrow's sunrise. He still manages to gobble up some food being served at the center and ensures all his family members too are well-fed.
Sebati who lost her husband to Covid-19 in 2020, had barely managed to tie the strings of life again, along with her only son Bhairab, is heartbroken today. At Puri cyclone shelter, she is seen walking restlessly. All she has is a piece of bedsheet and a few utensils. Bhairab, her son, closely tucked to her, would not even gauge the gravity of the situation.
Dhamra shelter has Kunia and Sajuna, two sisters, who have been fending for their parents, both of whom are challenged . They could only pick up their parents' medicines and some clothes before leaving behind their house they had built under PM Awas Yojana. Lost in their own world, the family stares at uncertainty. Worse, they had to leave behind their cattle back home as there was no way to bring them along.
Such people are dime a dozen in all the shelters who are not sure what is in store for them in a few hours from now. But the common factor binding them is their faith that the Lord will sail them through the difficult time. "Lord Jagannath is our savior. I had a large tract of land where I had grown paddy and betel leaves. Just as I was hoping to reap a bumper harvest this year, the cyclone settled itself in the Bay of Bengal and unsettled me. It is our bad luck that we are today in this situation," laments Puru Swain.
A farmer who is an inspiration for others, Puru helps many like him to understand crop pattern and fertiliser use besides irrigation techniques. Left hapless with the current situation, he hopes, the cyclone, hardly 100 kilometers away from the coast, spares them from misery.
Kunia and Sajuna rear cattle and take care of the family. "But we are here without our lifelines, our cattle. We milch around 10 litters of milk on a daily basis and sell it in and around the village. That is our means to sustain," they said in unison. Ask them about how they plan to lead their lives after the cyclone Dana passes, and both become silent pointing fingers at the sky. "Who do we trust other than the Kala Thakura (meaning Lord Jagannath)?," they question.
On the other hand, Sebati feels, this is one more test she has to undergo. "The Lord had been testing my patience and now again he wants to see if I have the stamina to bear this. My Bhairab is my hope. Once he grows up, he will take care of me," says she. Bhairab is 8 years old and has been attending the primary school. Even in the midst of the melee at the shelter, he tears a paper from the notebook he has carried and makes a paper airplane.
The harbingers of resilience, these people in the coastal villages bear such natural disasters time and again and rise like the phoenix. While some lose the zeal, others lose life. But many spin the weaves once again after the dark night passes. "We hope the government comes to our rescue and helps us rebuild our lives. But it will not be easy," says Abakasa Niyati, a tea-seller from a Nimapara village.
Well, it is up to the four-month-old BJP government in the state to ensure how Kuna, Sajuna, Abakasa, Puru and Sebati, and thousand others like them get back to normal life. A state that has been appreciated for its disaster mitigation zero casualty approach during calamities, is once again in the focus.
Meanwhile, in the Capital city, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said, “Everyone will be taken care of. About 4 lakh people are likely to be affected, and we have already relocated more than 3.5 lakh,” he said adding, 842 permanent relief centers and 4,756 temporary relief centers are operational across 11 districts.
- Provisions have been made for both people and livestock, 6,454 animals relocated.
- Relief supplies, including 160 quintals of dry food and 145 quintals of rice distributed.
- 213 medical teams and 120 veterinary teams deployed.
- 3,700 pregnant women shifted to medical centers, and two successful deliveries reported in Niali and Keonjhar.
- 51 NDRF and 95 OFDC teams on standby.
In Puri, District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain said 7,266 people have been accommodated in 162 cyclone shelters. Senior officials are overseeing rescue and relief operations in affected blocks, including Astaranga and Kakatpur.
