Even 24 hours after the tornado wreaked havoc in Bahanaga area in the district on Friday, majority of victims are yet to get relief materials. Though some private organisations have rushed to the help of the affected people, the administration is yet to hasten up relief process.
According to official sources, the tornado claimed lives of three children and affected 6,623 people of 11 villages. So far, only 163 affected families have received polythene sheets and cooked food provided to 3,660 villagers. While roofs of 1,300 houses were blown away, walls of 500 houses collapsed due to heavy rain.
Ganapati Panda, an affected villager, said there was no food till noon while villagers of Benapada and Pakhara had not received any relief material till Saturday evening. Sources said though Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Central) Arvind Padhee directed the district administration to distribute relief materials in the morning, the district and block level officials did not carry out the instruction till evening.
On Friday evening, Sania Singh (9) and Basanti Singh (8) were killed when lightning struck them in Benapada village. Jitendra Das (9) died and five others were injured in Thalsadha village when walls collapsed on them. The gale, which continued for nearly two hours, accompanied with heavy rain caused widespread damage to houses and communication network. The 7-km Nayak Bandh-Anji road was blocked as trees and electricity poles were uprooted by the gale at many places causing inconvenience to the commuters. Power supply was also snapped.
Of 11 affected villages, Saud, Chhabatia, Thalsada, Belasahi, Pakhara, Bajana, Chhatrali, Asimila, Nilakanthapur and Benapada were badly hit. Receiving information about delay in relief operation and paucity of polythene sheets, Collector Ranjit Mohanty rushed to the spot. He said free kitchens have been opened at four places and affected villagers have been provided dry food. Mohanty said `10,000 has been given to each family of the deceased and they would get `1.5 lakh each from the national calamity fund after autopsy reports are submitted.
