KENDRAPARA: Three weeks after floods ravaged riverside villages of the district, a large number of people whose homes and livelihood were washed away, continue to live in misery in the worst-hit Aul block.Though the focus is now on reconstruction and rehabilitation, lack of adequate bamboos, straws and other house building materials has added to the woes of flood-hit people who are unable to rebuild their damaged houses.
Adikanda Jena of Gobindapur village said those whose houses were fully damaged are still staying in the makeshift polythene tents, cyclone shelters, schools and pucca houses of fellow villagers. Many villagers are still surveying the damage to their property and crops while others are rummaging through the collapsed houses, looking for any household articles that can be used. Lack of sufficient house building materials has emerged as a major headache for villagers, he said.
The mud-walled house of Bhikari Mallick of Mohanpur caved in during floods. He stayed in a polythene tent on the river embankment for two weeks and on Thursday, he returned to his house to search for some utensils.“After losing everything in the floods, I am now planning to start life afresh. I need 200 pieces of bamboo to repair my damaged house. But these are not available in the area due to which house repairing work is moving at a snail’s pace,” he said.
Like Bhikari, many flood-affected persons in several villages are anxiously waiting for supply of house building materials.Sarpanch of Gobindapur Padmalaya Dhal said apart from rendering villagers homeless, the floods have snatched away livelihood of many farmers in Aul as crops like radish, pumpkin, lady’s finger, beans and other seasonal vegetables over vast tracts of land have been damaged.
Contacted, block development officer of Aul Dibyendu Das said as many as 74,739 persons of 50 villages have been affected in the floods. “The nearby rivers breached at two places in Aul. Breach plugging work is on. We are providing relief to affected people and will soon provide house building assistance to them,” he added.