KENDRAPARA: Leaving nothing to chance, the Kendrapara administration embarked on a massive evacuation exercise in the seaside villages of the district on Tuesday ahead of cyclone Yaas' landfall. Over 65,000 people were moved to shelters by the time reports last came in.
Expected to pack wind gusting up to 165 km/hr, the cyclone is likely to hit Bhadrak’s Dhamra, close to Bhitarkanika National Park by early Wednesday morning.
District emergency officer Sambeet Satpathy said, around 65,000 people from low-lying areas have already been evacuated to 117 cyclone shelters and 410 schools. "We are determined to keep casualties at zero. No one will be allowed to stay in thatched houses in coastal areas. The evacuation exercise will continue till the last minute when the cyclone hits," he said.
In view of full moon on Wednesday, high tide conditions will prevail, making the storm surge dangerous. "We fear Yaas will be the most powerful storm since the 1999 Super Cyclone which devastated Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts, killing around 10,000 people mostly due to deluge of seawater that swept in," he said.
The administration used public address system to alert seaside villagers. Sufficient dry food has been stocked while medical teams and ambulances are on standby for any emergencies. To ensure social distancing among evacuees, the number of cyclone shelters has been doubled by using school and college buildings. Separate isolation rooms have been kept at the shelters for infected patients, the officer informed.
Meanwhile, an eerie silence pervaded the air as almost all the seaside villages of the district wore a deserted look on Tuesday. Bijay Behera (43) of Magarakandha village said, “The sea has crept almost two km into Satabhaya panchayat within the last three decades. Aware of the vulnerability of the place, residents of Satabhaya, Magarakandha, Kanhupur and nearby villagers have shifted to safer places.”
Similar is the situation in seaside Badatubi, Sanatubi, Batighar, Kansarbadadandua, Suniti, Jamboo, Kandarapatia and Petachela as most of the villagers have abandoned their houses fearing onslaught of the cyclone.
Cattle and other domestic animals have also been shifted to to safer places. In villages near Bhitarkanika National Park, the depletion of mangrove cover has emerged as a major threat to the local population ahead of the cyclone.
"Mangrove forests protect the seaside villages from the worst impact of storms. But some rich and influential prawn mafia have cleared the green cover making the coastal pockets vulnerable to cyclones. Around one lakh people of 45 villages around Bhitarkanika are spending sleepless nights as Yaas is nearing the coast," alleged Jagannath Das of Rajnagar.
Mangrove forests on vast tracts of land have been illegally converted into prawn farms. Sources said disappearance of the mangrove cover may spell doom for villagers of Rangani, Talachua, Pravati, Gupti, Ajagarapatia and several other villages within Bhitarkanika. Besides, the villagers also face the threat of tidal waves. Mangrove trees provide a formidable natural barrier against storm surge.
Mahadev Jena (64), a retired school teacher of Jagatajora, said, "In the 1999 Super Cyclone, many villages were saved due to the mangrove forests. Now people are worried in absence of mangrove trees. The ecological treasure house has been systematically decimated and people will face the consequence."
Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Bhitarkanika Bikash Ranjan Dash said, " have been taking action against prawn mafia who illegally clear the mangrove cover. Recently, around 400 prawn farms were dismantled."