KENDRAPARA: The horrific memories of October 29, 1999, when the super cyclone devastated coastal villages in the district are still fresh in the mind of Parbati Kisku (80) of Panikia village in Mahakalapada block. The storm changed the life of Parbati and several others from her village forever.
The octogenarian, who survived by taking shelter in the lone two-storey concrete house in the village, lost all five members of her family including her husband, two daughters, son and daughter-in-law to the devastating cyclone.
Left alone, Parbati adopted an orphan boy Chandu Tudu in 2000. She got him married but as luck would have it, Chandu died of cancer last year leaving behind his widow and two daughters.
“Now I am living with my widowed daughter-in-law and two granddaughters. The super cyclone ruined me,” Parbati laments sitting outside her mud-walled thatched house.
The sea, which wreaked havoc on her life, frightens her but she refuses to leave Panikia.
“I have never imagined something like this would happen. The super cyclone made us realise that the village is not a safe place to live in. But, we have no other option,” she says.
Parbati makes ends meet by fishing in the nearby creeks. Around 22 residents of Panikia lost their lives on that fateful day 21 years back.
Similar is the plight of Parul Maiti of Suniti village who had gone to Nalabhedi village in Erasama block of neighbouring Jagatsinghour district along with her family on the fateful day.
Parul’s husband Mantu Maiti and son Subash were swept away in the high tide and their bodies could not be recovered.
“I still cannot sleep. The waves and tides of the sea scare me,” she says. Despite losing her family, Parul is yet to receive any compensation from the Government.
“I have been running from pillar to post for compensation for more than two decades,” she adds.
Amid the gloom, life goes on in the affected villages.
While Panikia village, which had just one concrete house, now has several including two cyclone shelters and concrete roads. Arabinda Das of Tentulikhanda village, where 40 people perished, says they have moved on but the memories of losing their loved ones still haunts.