Thousands of people in the flood-hit districts of Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal in southern Odisha are struggling to find safe drinking water after days of inundation caused by cyclone Arnab, Down To Earth reports. Families there are also short of food, sanitation and medical help.
Hand pumps are under stagnant floodwater, and residents say the few tube wells still working may be giving contaminated water, raising fears of water-borne disease. "The biggest problem is drinking water. Rescue boats are the only means of reaching the main road," said Santi Behera, 43, of Rajapur village in Ganjam district.
Balabhadra Sahoo, 55, of Biripur village in the same district, said his family had lost its home and its crops in the floods and was now struggling to get drinking water. Ranjan Sahoo, 63, of Badamadhapur village in Chatrapur block said polluted floodwater had left villagers with little choice but to avoid cooked meals.
The state's Housing and Urban Development Department has sent teams from the Water Corporation of Odisha and the Public Health Engineering Organisation to oversee drinking water and sanitation. All water sources, community facilities included, are to be cleaned and disinfected, said Anisha Kar of the state's Information and Public Relations Department.
Suresh Pujari, the revenue and disaster management minister, said four helicopters were carrying food packets to cut-off areas, with airdrops planned at 21 places. Health teams are handing out drinking water, halogen tablets and medicines, and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department has been told to send more water by tanker. The report is by Ashis Senapati.
Photo: Raka / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Down To Earth
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