BERHAMPUR: As the severe cyclonic storm Fani advances towards Odisha coast, uneasy calm prevails in Ganjam and Gajapati districts which have been facing frequent calamities..
Not willing to take chances with the lives of the people living along the coast and low-lying areas, the administrative machinery has swung into action to shift people to safer places. By Thursday evening, more than three lakh people have been shifted to cyclone shelters and other safe places in the two districts.
Informing about the evacuation, sources in district administration said people have extended cooperation and started moving from their homes to safer shelters soon after the officials engaged in the job reached their areas. Senior officials, including IG Amitav Thakur, SPs Brijesh Roy and Pinak Mishra and their teams helped the residents of coastal villages in Ganjam district to shift people to safer places.
All basic necessities like cooked food and water have been arranged in the shelters. Public has been sensitised through public address systems not to panic. Despite the announcements, the overcast sky and sporadic rainfall has led people stock up essential commodities.
Taking advantage of the situation are some unscrupulous traders, who have started selling groceries and vegetables at exorbitant price. But the administration was quick to tackle the menace by sending enforcement teams to the market. The teams are conducting checks at various vending zones and Bada Bazar asking the traders not to inflate prices.
With essential commodities like potato, flour and flattened rice on the top of buyers’ list, the commodities are flying off the shelves. Jitu Dalai, a wholesaler of Bada Bazar, said he sold four quintals of potatoes from Wednesday evening to Thursday noon.
Sources said 200 quintals of potatoes arrived at Bada Bazar, the wholesale market of the city. Manoranjan Sahu, another wholesaler, said petty traders from nearby villages reached Bada Bazar and procured additional stock of essential items after the cyclone warning to provide the same in their areas. The panic buying has triggered scarcity of essential commodities but it would be sorted out, said Digant Routray, Berhampur Sub-collector.