Millions affected in Orissa floods
Bhubaneswar, 14th August 2006: Lying on the floor of a congested relief camp, Pratima Biswal (32) waits for the return of her husband Saroj, who went missing in the flood waters. As the water level increased, Patima's family with hundred-other villagers climbed to the roof of their school building for safety. Her husband Saroj was trying to rescue the cattle - the flood waters swamped him and in minutes he disappeared in the marooned habitation. In the relief camp at Bhograi block, there are many like Pratima who with their children are battling the odds. The floods in Coastal, Northern and Southern Orissa have affected thousands of villages forcing at least 200,000 people out of their homes. The floods mostly caused by overflowing rivers due to torrential rains in Orissa and in the upper river catchments areas have affected population over 1.8 million in 17 districts in the past two months. Officially, there have been 41 deaths so far. According to Revenue department of the Government of Orissa, about 42,000 houses have been badly damaged. There was also crop loss in 42,743 hectares, while about 122,000 hectares of total crop area has been affected. The affected districts are – Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Puri, Khurda, Boudh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Nowrangpur, Nuapada, Bolangir and Sonepur. The overflowing rivers have also caused maximum damage to the roads and tele-communication services. At least 15 major roads leading to the districts were cut-off at different locations. A total of 529 roads were stated to have gone out of use. The Orissa Revenue minister Manmohan Samal has said that, "The State Government has ensured that relief reaches to each and every flood affected people and the trapped families are rescued as early as possible. The District Emergency Control Rooms are functioning round-the-clock to closely monitor the rescue and relief operations.” The Government of Orissa has opened about 30 relief camps for the victims of the current floods, while another 52 relief camps set up, after the July floods to provide free cooked as well as dry food to the affected families are still functioning. The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Jagadanand Panda has said, "The situation still remains grim in many areas and further rains in the upper catchment areas in the recent days can add to the crisis.” He also added that,” The Government’s first priority is to check human casualties."
Controlling Epidemic: One of the major concerns in the aftermath of disasters, particularly the floods has been the outbreak of epidemics with the threats of serious water-borne diseases and skin infections. And mostly the victims are children who are the most vulnerable. UNICEF has supplied in advance, many life saving supplies to the State Disaster Management Units. The supplies include: 300,000 sachets of PUR Apart from these UNICEF has also received a request for supplying Blankets, Tarpaulin, Utensils, Hygiene kits and sleeping material to the badly affected district of Koraput. UNICEF has also supported the Government in planning the response. The state government has also ensured that the primary health centers (PHCs) and district-level healthcare units were supplied with adequate quantity of medicines to tackle flood-related health ailments, particularly the outbreak of diarrhea, cholera and jaundice. To ensure safe drinking water for the people in flood-prone areas, at least 900 defunct tube wells have been repaired and 300-odd dug wells have been disinfected. Emergency health centers have been set up in at least 50 different locations and mobile health teams are kept ready at the district headquarters hospital to meet any emergency, the minister informed. As the Officer-in-Charge UNICEF Office for Orissa Mr. Olushola Ismail said,” UNICEF has worked hand in hand with the Government of Orissa and ensured that the necessary and timely support has reached the affected population, mainly the women and children.”
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Key rivers like Mahanadi, Devi, Kushabhadra are still on a rising trend at |
