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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Red tape blues for cyclone victims by Manoj Kar

Red tape blues for cyclone victims by Manoj Kar

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published Published on Oct 30, 2011   modified Modified on Oct 30, 2011

Memories of the killer cyclone of 1999 continue to haunt Parvati Maiti every time the sky turns overcast.

Today, it’s been exactly 12 years since the massive cyclone swept through the state, killing and leaving thousands homeless.

However, the 52-year-old woman from Ambiki village, who lost her husband and elder son to the super cyclone, is yet to receive the compensation amount of Rs 3 lakh against the two casualties in her family.

“My husband Mantu Maiti and son, Bibek Maiti, were swept away by the tidal waves at Ambiki village. Carrying their death certificates and other papers, I have knocked on all doors, but I am yet to receive the compensation amount,” said Parvati, her eyes moist.

For Parvati, the cyclone was a tragedy, but her fight against official apathy and red tape has been far more difficult and depressing. Twelve years after the disaster, several others like her are still awaiting compensation.

Sources said 1,785 families were struggling to get their due.

“Every time calamity strikes, the agencies are found blundering. The ex-gratia slip-ups are a case in point,” said Binayak Swain, a civil society activist.

The exercise of providing compensation has been hit by controversies since the beginning.

“In the aftermath of the cyclone, the administration put the toll at over 10,000. Later, it was revised to 7,090 with valid documents corroborating the deaths,” said Natabar Barik, president of the Jagatsinghpur zilla parishad.

There were also allegations of fake death certificates having been produced and six employees of Kujang tehsil were sent to jail for issuing such forged certificates.

“The district administration has so far disbursed ex gratia to 5,305 families. A total of 1,785 cases are pending as their genuineness is being verified. We are focusing on foolproof distribution system,” he said.

A number of factors had led to the ex-gratia imbroglio. Many genuine cases are held up because of disputes over legal heirs. Most of the claimants were not armed with documentary proof to corroborate their claims. Besides, many had moved Orissa High Court in this regard. The administration was also preoccupied with the Posco steel project. “The settlement process is cumbersome. However, we are ensuing that not a single genuine beneficiary is left out,” said Kujang tehsildar Vasudev Pradhan.

The government had announced Rs 75,000 as compensation to each bereaved family in the aftermath of the super cyclone. While Rs 50,000 of this was borne by the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund, the remaining was shouldered by the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

The super cyclone had ravaged Jagatsinghpur district, which registered 7,090 deaths at 1,308 villages of eight blocks and two municipalities.

But, the government is yet to learn its lesson. The weather warning system at Paradip is not working. Most of the UNDP-funded HAM radio sets installed to keep the vulnerable villages connected with the outside world have gone out of order. While the multi-purpose cyclone shelters built about a decade ago are languishing in want of maintenance, the flood shelters, a key project in these river-locked parts, are yet to see the light of the day.

The coastal embankments built along the vulnerable seaside villagers are mostly ill-maintained exposing the villages to tidal ingress. Tree cover, the natural buffer against storm and cyclone, is yet to be fully regenerated.

“Thousands of trees are being felled for the Posco steel project without an inch of plantation in the area susceptible to cyclone and tidal waves,” said Swain.

Though the reconstruction and restoration work undertaken by both the government and private agencies have restored order in the ravaged human settlements, the human toll due to cyclone is still shrouded in controversy. As per the preliminary estimate by the then district administration, the toll was placed at over 14,491. Later the figure climbed down to 7,090 as many of the casualty report was found out not to be genuine. As human greed took the centre-stage in the calamitous hours, the district administration was virtually flooded with claims of death of their near ones. As many as 29,000 death certificates with majority of them being forged were dropped at the district administration headquarters for ex-gratia doles. At least six persons had been arrested for making false claim of death of their kith and kin while several others faced criminal proceedings for producing false misleading certificates.


The Telegraph, 30 October, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111030/jsp/orissa/story_14679743.jsp


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