KENDRAPARA: It has been a week since around one lakh residents of 93 villages of Garadapur, Marsaghai, Mahakalapada, Aul, Rajkanika and Pattamundai blocks of the district were affected by the floods. But the woes seem to be too much to deal with for people who have lost almost everything.
The worst-affected Garadapur, Marsaghai, Mahakalapada and Pattamundai block present sight of rubbles of damaged houses. Even now the polythene tents and alternative shelters, though inadequate, are all that the locals are left with.
We are struggling to pick up the threads of life, said Anirudha Jena of Aitipur. While some with lost hopes are coming to terms with life, others are cursing their fate for the damage to their property and crops. However, there are a few who have started rebuilding their houses by salvaging belongings from the rubble and materials.
“We have lost everything in the floods but now we are planning to start life afresh in our village,” Prahalad Malick of Dihabalarampur village whose four-room thatched house collapsed in the flood after the Luna river breached near his village.
Flood water has started receding from the Mahanadi river and its tributaries Luna, Karandia, Chitrotola, Karandia and Paika, informed district emergency officer Hemalata Bahalia.
A total of 93 villages under 41-gram panchayats with a population of 92,822 have been affected by the floods in the district. We have already started providing house-building assistance to the affected persons,” said Bahalia.