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5,000 feared killed in Orissa

At least 5,000 people are feared killed and over 10 million have been affected by the worst cyclone to batter the Orissa coast in 22 years, a senior government official said.

"The toll can reach anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 as many villages in the coastal area have been washed away by devastating tidal waves as high as 40 feet," he said on condition of anonymity.

The official toll has crept up to 136, with 39 deaths being reported from Cuttack and 44 from Astaraga in Puri.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Juel Oram, who visited Paradip today, told United News of India that he sighted 42 bodies.

Defence Minister George Fernandes, Oram and Mines and Minerals Minister Navin Patnaik today made an aerial survey of the devastated port town and other cyclone-affected areas before landing at Paradip.

A mob heckled one of the ministers at the Paradip Central School, angry that relief was slow in coming.

Two ships carrying food have docked in Paradip port, but not been unloaded because of the mob, officials said.

Orissa Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang chaired an all-party meeting this afternoon where it was unanimously decided to demand that the cyclone be declared a national calamity of rare severity.

Prasanna Kumar Patasani, Member of Parliament from Bhubaneswar, said 21 people had died in the capital Bhubaneswar alone and over 300,000 houses had been destroyed.

The official said the state government was yet to establish contact with the four worst-affected districts, including Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur.

"We had sent some officials to the headquarters of the four districts, but they were forced to retreat," he said.

The army has started to move in for relief-and-rescue operations, but has not been able to enter these places as the roads are submerged.

The state government has directed the works department to clear all roads on a war footing by tomorrow evening to facilitate transportation of relief materials.

But, government officials say the roads in the worst-affected districts have either been washed away or are under water.

Two BJD MLAs, Panchanan Kanungo and Bishnu Das, said they saw 80 bodies in Jagatsinghpur. Over 2.5 million people are feared affected in this district alone. At least 1,200 schools and 600 government buildings have been damaged.

The legislators said that if the administration could not do anything to restore telecommunication, power and roads, it should allow the army to move in.

In Jajpur, 1.55 million people have been affected in flash floods and several villages and low-lying areas have been submerged.

Rajnagar, Jambu, Kharnanasi and Ramnagar, all thickly populated villages, have been marooned. The fate of the people in Jambu, Satbhaya and Gupti are not yet known.

Andhra Pradesh has donated high-frequency satellite phones to all districts in Orissa where the state government was not able to establish communication.

In Keonjhar, breaches have been reported in the embankments of the rivers Kusei and Sidhei and many villages have been marooned.

UNI

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