How grave the flood situation is in Odisha... Ground reality speaks much

With reports of deaths due to wall collapse coming from various parts of the State, the flood victims are forced to spend the night with farm animals at temporary camps. Adding to their woes is the deep depression induced rainfall. Even as the water level has started receding, villagers have to spend sleepless nights in the temporary camps amid fear of snakebites. While one person sleeps, another has to stay guard outside the shelter home to avoid any untoward incident.

The plight seems unending for the flood affected areas in Derabish of Kendrapara district, parts of Khurda district, Banki in Cuttack district and Gop in Puri. After running from pillar to post to get help from the administration, the flood affected people are forced to spend the nights in polythene-made temporary tents.

Worse, they have to take the polythene sheets on loan with no help from the government. And, they will work as labourers and repay the loans once the flood recedes. With no electricity, oil lamps and torches are their only source of light. Open fields have turned into kitchens while flat rice is their only means to stay alive. 

As their houses are under water for almost a week now, they stay alive just in the hope that the water might recede soon and they will return to their homes. Many of them are deprived of medicines even as they are suffering from fever and other ailments due to the changing weather condition.

“I’m suffering from fever. I’m in unbearable pain. At least we used to sleep peacefully at our houses. But, our own shelter has also been snatched from us. We cannot afford to buy the polythene tents. We have taken it on loan and will have to work as labourers and repay the loans,” said an elderly person while narrating the ordeal.

Similar is the condition of residents of Gop in Puri district. Fearing wall collapse, locals seek shelter at temporary camps at night.

“We have nothing to eat or drink. We are starving here with our children with the farm animals,” said a woman. When asked if they received any government aid, she stated that she has not received anything other than a little amount of flat rice. 

Narrating their ordeal, a resident of Derabish in Kendrapara said, “Snakes are everywhere. We have to stay guard while another sleeps. Now, my mother is sleeping and my father is guarding. We cannot go to our homes as the walls might collapse anytime.”

In Pratap Sasan, there is water everywhere, but people have no drinking water to quench their thirst. “I had to walk around two kilometres to fetch water for cooking. We cannot go to our homes in the fear of wall collapse,” a local lamented.