KENDRAPARA: Fresh rains since Sunday night compounded the misery of people reeling under floods in the coastal district of Kendrapara.
The floods have inundated 28 gram panchayats of Aul and Pattamundai blocks, affecting around 80,000 people. The affected villagers have taken shelter in makeshift tents on river embankments, highways and other high grounds. Sources said due to the fresh spell of showers, rainwater entered the temporary shelters, leaving the villagers in deep trouble.
Bhikari Charan Mallick (58) of Singhgaon panchayat in Aul said, “The floodwater entered my makeshift tent on Sunday night due to which I was forced to abandon it with five members of my family.” Bhikari’s four-room thatched house had collapsed in the flood last week and he was taking shelter on the road by erecting a small polythene tent.
Similarly, Paresh Jena of Taradipala village under Pattamundai block said the torrential rain has made it difficult to live on the road. “But we don’t have a choice as our village is marooned in the flood.”
Sarpanch of Singhgaon Ganesh Chandra Das said heavy rain in the flood-affected areas has brought more misery for hundreds of homeless people. Alleging that the villagers are yet to get any relief material, he criticised the administration’s passive approach. “The flood-hit villagers of our gram panchayat have not received any relief from the government. So far, we have received only cattle feed from the authorities,” he claimed.
Contacted, Kendrapara collector Raghuram R Iyer admitted that many villages in Aul and Pattamundai blocks are marooned due to the flood. The district administration has stocked rice, flattened rice, molasses, kerosene and other items in all the gram panchayat offices and block headquarters for distribution among the affected people.
“We have deployed power boats to rescue the flood-hit people. All the cyclone shelters and schools are housing the affected people. The block development officers and tehsildars have been directed to provide polythene sheets to villagers of flooded villages,” he added.