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Orissa toll rises to 7,656

With over 25 lakh houses damaged in the super cyclone that ripped through the twelve districts of Orissa on October 29, lakhs of survivors, including little children who are half-fed and have no clothes to wear, now face the prospect of spending cold winter nights in the open.

There is a serious shortage of tarpauline and the Orissa government has sent an SOS to all the states asking them to rush whatever stocks they have with them.

According to official sources, the state government received some tarpauline consignments but since these were not enough, the relief workers decided to wait for some more time before beginning distribution.

Schools and panchayat buildings, which could have sheltered the homeless, have suffered extensive damage in the storm.

Official sources today put the death toll at 7,656 with Jagatsinghpur district, the worst hit, accounting for 6,383 deaths followed by Cuttack (381), Puri (287) and Kendrapada (241).

Defence Minister George Fernandes, chairman of the task force constituted by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to assess the damage and coordinate relief and rahabilitation work, arrived in Bhubaneswar this morning. He chaired a high-level meeting at the state secretariat to take stock of the situation.

The defence minister later made an aerial survey of the cyclone-ravaged areas of Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapada districts.

The task force, comprising eight union secretaries, would submit its report within one month and if necessary submit a memorandum to the prime minister.

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister N T Shanmugham also arrived here yesterday on a two-day visit to the state to make an on-the-spot study of the health hazards in the affected areas.

The army and the airforce, meanwhile, continued air-dropping food material, although the state government claimed that road communications had been established to most of the affected districts.

UNI

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