New Delhi - Marooned villagers across India's cyclone-ravaged eastern Orissa state are dying from the effects of eating infected food and drinking contaminated water, while aid has failed to reach nearly two-thirds of the estimated 15 million people affected by last week's storm, Rahul Bedi writes.
Reports from Orissa yesterday said 23 people died at Khuranta village, in Kendrapara district, one of the worst-affected areas after last week's cyclone. Four others died similarly in nearby Mahakalapada, unable to find any food in the water-logged region. Thousands of other people were surviving on cattle feed and boiled roots.
State officials said over nine million people in 10 coastal districts remained marooned and over 60 per cent of the flooded areas were still isolated. They have put the number of deaths at about 1,000.