By Sameet Panda
The extremely sever cyclonic storm “Fani” made landfall near Puri on May 3 wreaking havoc in the life, livelihood and infrastructure in the region. At least 64 people have died due to Cyclone Fani and financial loss due to it is Rs.12,000, according to official figures.
Though the state government has earned all-round praise for successful rescue efforts and minimalising casualties, its post cyclone relief and restoration exercise has drawn criticism from several quarters.
The author was part of a civil society team, which visited the Satapada area in Puri to understand the relief and restoration effort initiated by the government and non-government organisations. Satapada, under Bramhagiri block of the district is on the bank of Chilika lake, is one of the worst affected area in the state. It was heart wrenching to see the kind of devastation the pocket has gone through.
Damage done
The majority of the houses were kutcha or having asbestos roof. All kutcha houses have been completely damaged whereas the asbestos roofs mostly blown up. The kutcha houses mostly belong to the Dalit communities who are fisher folks by profession.
The other major damage has been loss of fishing boats, which have either been washed away from shore or have been damaged due to the sheer force of the tidal wave. Loss of fruit bearing trees like coconut and cashew have either been uprooted or badly damaged, which is another blow to the local community.
Discussion with people reveal that that they never thought Cyclone Fani was going to be such disastrous as past cyclones like Cyclone Phailin, Cyclone Hudhud and Cyclone Titili, which did not cause much damage in this region. Even after several rounds to warning, many families relocated to the cyclone shelter in the same morning when Cyclone Fani made its landfall. As a result, they could not carry enough clothes and other essentials. A majority of the households living in kuttcha houses are now left with the pair of clothes they are wearing.
Discrimination in the shelter
The worst part of the cyclone is not destruction of houses or assets but the discrimination against Dalit families who were not allowed in to the cyclone shelters. This was found in villages like Gola and Balabhadrapur where Dalit families were forced to take shelter in other building as upper caste people did not allow them to enter the cyclone shelters. Seven Dalit families of Domasahi-Balabhadrapur took shelter in the village primary school whereas more than 100 families of Gola took shelter in a pucca building in the village built for a self-help group.
Tiki Naik 25, of Balabhadrapur said: “They (upper caste people) do not see us as human. Is the cyclone shelter built only for Savarnas? They even took their cattle and crop with them but did not give us a small space in the shelter. It was our a nightmare spending time in the school building.”
Contrary to Dalit being shunted out by upper castes, the shelters built in Dalit hamlets were inclusive and it did not stop families of upper caste taking shelter in it during cyclone. The upper caste families of Gopinathpur admitted that they were not denied or faced any hostile environment in the shelter by the Dalits.
Relief operation
Immediately after Cyclone Fani, administration distributed 50 kg of rice, Rs 2000 and a polythene sheet to each of the families having ration card. During time of the visit it was observed that cooked food being provided in the affected villages. Religious organisation like AMRUT and political leaders were providing necessary food materials for preparing cooked food in the affected areas.
The government has already declared slew of relief measures for disaster affected families, which include compensation for house damage to loss of animals and boat damage. We found the affected community to be unaware of the relief measures or have unclear information. The government messaging has mostly been through newspaper, mobile messaging, which is not reaching the affected area due to unavailability of electricity and mobile connectivity. It is essential that government and civil society take the correct message to the people sooner than later.
Fear of Loan sharks
Macro finance institutions (MFIs) are quite popular especially among women in the region for small loans. Mostly taken for emergency requirements as well as meeting operational cost of their small businesses. Community members especially the women were of the view that small loans are useful for them and they were quite diligent in servicing the loans on time.
However, post Cyclone Fani they are not in a position to repay the loan till their livelihood is restored. We were told that MFIs are regularly visiting the effected villages and asking the people to repay the loan in a roundabout way.
It is contrary to the stand taken by the MFIs executives at the state level, who have claimed to have issued instruction to stop collection of loans till things go back to normal. The team got the feeling on the ground that there is a resentment among the people against the MFIs and if they are pushed further it can escalate to conflict and violence against the local MFI representatives.
Relief and restoration need
The villages are filled with uprooted trees, damaged houses and electricity infrastructure obstructing even smooth movement of people and animals. It essentials to initiate restoration exercise immediately. Villagers are trying their best to clean the debris themselves. Looking in to massive restoration exercise and precarious state of livelihood government should employ all those villager wanting to be part of restoration exercise as wage workers through MGNREGS. However, steps should be taken to release payment through cash once in a week.
Looking in to the uncertainty of restoration of electricity supply, there is huge demand for solar lights and torches. In case not supplied on time, people will be forced to buy those products at inflated price. The other major support demanded by the community was mosquito net as majority are forced to sleep under the open sky. Both need to part of relief kit.
People have lost their clothes and many are literally surviving with one pair of clothes. It is essential to provide clean and proper clothes to the disaster affected people. We should give special emphasis on the needs of children as they are varied in height and weight. Sanitary napkins for women also emerge another major need. It is good to know that the state government has decided to provide sanitary napkins to women free of cost.
The schools having asbestos roof have been badly damaged but the Angawadi centre mostly having pucca structure got saved. Majority of these structure which are not damaged are presently inhabited by effected families.
The ICDS and MDM services have been stopped for the moment. It is essential to start the ICDS services at the earliest looking in to the health and nutritional requirement of women and children. It will also help to monitor and control any possible outbreak of epidemic.
Also there is direction of Supreme Court to run MDM during drought and emergency situation even when the schools are closed. Steps should be taken to provide MDM in all government and affiliated schools once the community kitchens are closed. This will not only provide nutrition support to children but also create a space for interaction and recreation.
The relief support for the loss of boats declared by the state government is paltry Rs.7000, which less than 10 per cent cost of a standard boat. It is necessary to revise the cost so that the fisher folks are able to purchase a boat and secure their livelihood. Similarly support for loss of poultry farms due to the cyclone is Rs 50 per chicken for a maximum of 100 chickens only. It is necessary to revise the support at the close to the level of market price.
It is essential to expedite the construction of damaged houses since monsoon is just few weeks away. Lack of land title, which is the case of most Dalit families, should not be the reason for not allocating pucca houses. Similarly restoration of electricity and mobile infrastructure should be given highest priority along with banking services.
(Panda is a development activist based out of Bhubaneswar)
