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Declare cyclone national calamity: Orissa all party meeting

An all party meeting in Orissa today urged the Centre to declare the natural disaster a national calamity and allow the state a five-year moratorium on payment of central government loans besides waiving the loan interest.

The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang, also resolved to constitute all party committees at the state and district levels to monitor the relief operation in the cyclone-ravaged areas.

The tragedy, which devstated the 400-km coast in 12 districts, has so far officially claimed over 1,700 lives of which the worst-hit Jagatsinghpur district alone accounted for 765 lives followed by Cuttack (329), Puri (289) and Kendrapada (147).

Meanwhile, the state government today set up the Orissa Cyclone Relief and Reconstruction Fund and appealed to the people to generously contribute money to provide relief and rehabilitation to the cyclone-affected people.

The fund, according to state Revenue Minister Jagannath Patnaik, would be operated through the state's special relief commissioner. The government had also established a NGO coordination cell to mobilise non-governmental organisations to help relief work in the affected areas.

Patnaik said the meeting unanimously resolved that the Centre should declare the cyclone, which hit Ganjam, and also the recent super cyclone, which ripped through the entire coast, a national calamity.

The minister said though Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his recent visit to the state made it clear that the Centre had treated the cyclone as a national calamity and released funds from the National Fund for Calamity Relief, the meeting felt that as long as it was not officially announced, it would be difficult for the Centre to undertake rehabilitation in the cyclone-ravaged areas.

Orissa Special Relief Commissioner D N Padhi told newsmen that the government had received medical assistance from 12 states. About 300 doctors from outside the state besides doctors from the state had fanned out to the affected areas with medicines to prevent the outbreak of any epidemic.

He said though there had been some health hazards, so far no symptom of an epidemic had been spotted in the affected areas.

Operation Sahayata, launched jointly by the army, navy and air force, continued to reach help to people in more and more inaccessible areas. More army boats had been pressed into service to rush relief to those marooned and establish road communication for smooth passage of relief material by road.

Group Captain H P S Naat said so far over 400 tonnes of relief material had been air dropped in the affected areas, while 670 tonnes had been flown to Orissa from various parts of the country.

He said the army and air force had suggested that the state government sanction an operation to remove carcasses from the affected areas to prevent the outbreak of any epidemic. Group Captain Naat said helicopters, engaged in relief operation, would be pressed for disposal of the carcasses from Monday.

"We will carry the people along with kerosene and drop them in batches and allow them to burn the carcasses. These teams will be provided with water, ration and communication and will be picked up again by the helicopters after they finish the job," he said.

If necessary, he said, doctors would be flown into the marooned areas along with medicines to treat the affected people. Priority, he added, would now be accorded to flooded areas.

According to a preliminary estimate by the state government, more than 165,00 cattle perished in the disaster of which about 100,000 died in Jagatsinghpur district alone.

The cyclone affected 108.63 lakh people and damaged crops over 685,000 hectares. Non-paddy crop over 18,173 hectares had also been damaged in the cyclone, official sources said.

Brigadier Rajendra Singh Rawat, the Bihar-Orissa sub-area commander, told newsmen that the army could establish contact with Astaranga, one of the worst hit areas in Puri district, where over 10,000 people were provided with water and 2,000 sick people with medicines.

"Our prime concern is to move to the east of Ersama, Balikuda and Paradeep, still under knee deep water," the brigadier said. Army troops, he said, would physically go there and undertake a rescue and relief operation.

An Ilyushin 70 aircraft was flown in from Allahabad with more power boats to be pressed into the operation. Two Al-32 aircraft arrived in Bhubaneshwar to join Operation Sahayata, he said.

UNI

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