Saviours of Hope (Fani Cyclone Odisha)

After casting votes in the first phase of India’s 17th General Elections, on 11th April, people here too were curiously waiting for some excitement in next month as elections results were to be out on 23rd May. But…. …. Somewhere in West Sumatra in the Indian Ocean something terrible was shaping up for Odisha. Due to tropical depression a high end category hurricane that was given the name Fani rapidly building up. Fani rapidly intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm and reached its peak intensity on 2 May 2019, which harnessed devastation at a speed of 200 km per hour in the state of Odisha.

Destruction done by ‘Fani' is beyond anyone’s imagination. Districts of Cuttack, Bhubaneshwar, Khurda, Puri and many other neighboring ones got hit so severely. This cyclone claimed 64 lives, 65000 cattle and uprooted more than 1.5 crore coconut trees. Around 1.5 lakh electric poles are uprooted rendering a large part of state without electricity. Farmers in various villages are facing dual loss of homes and farms both. Amidst this natural calamity the first to reach the affected areas for rescue and relief were RSS Swayamsevaks.

Utkal Bipanna Sahayta Samiti which is managed by swayamsevaks of Odisha is doing a remarkable job with the help of more than 1500 Swayamsevaks. They are working round the clock from 5th may till date to ensure that help reaches everyone. Utkal Samiti has made relief camps which has served 96000 people till date. Temporary roof tops are built with the help of 1.2 lakh sheets of Tarpaulin to provide cover from constant rain. Bijoy Swain, a member of Utkal Samiti tells us that resources are limited and much more is required to be done. 4 lakhs mosquito nets have been distributed but this just covers 4% of people who need help. Solar lamps need to be delivered to the slums of Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack and Puri as well as to the distant villages of Odisha. Balipatna is 25 kilometeres from Bhubaneshwar and its main cash crop is Betel (Paan) which is totally destroyed. Swayamsevaks reached this Muslim majority area with supplies like Tarpaulin sheets, clothes to wear and Mosquito nets. People were surprised as they thought Sangh was against Muslims and never expected that they will get help from Swayam Sevaks. Saiffuddin Khan, a resident of Balipatna village was overwhelmed by SwayamSevaks’ selfess gestures

.

his catastrophic loss cannot be fulfilled merely by providing relief material as that is just a temporary measure. We need to provide sustainable support so that people can get back to normal life as soon as possible. Shri Jagdishji Sewa Pramukh of Eastern region of Sangh says that keeping immediate and long term sustainability in mind, Sangh is paying attention to employment. Most of the affected families are farmers so they will be given saplings of Cashew, Coconut, Betel nut etc. which will be a source of income in future. Sandal (Chandan) saplings will be planted on unused land owned by Government. Plastic sheets for roof will be provided before the onset of monsoon. Zoom Jungle or tall coastal trees that covers coast line of Orisa and prevents from strong destructive winds is destroyed by this Cyclone. Sangh has planned to revive this forest cover as well. 50 families have been given boats as a source of employment and efforts are being made to procure more boats. Efforts for the rehabilitation of around 600 families which were dependent on betel farming are also going on. Wide spread epidemic has been prevented with the help of UBSS Doctors, Health workers and 14 ambulances. Efforts are on to establish Primary Health centers for continuous primary health care. 

Damage is devastating but we need to rope in our courage and help as much as possible.

Contact – Sudarshanji

9439194221