Cyclone victims walk about 5km to fetch drinking water near Berhampur. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 17: For Somanath Das, 48, of Berhampur, water is the most precious commodity at this moment. The businessman, who owns a mobile phone shop in Silk City, could not bathe for the past five days.

“I can’t even think of that when there is insufficient water to drink,” said the father of three. Like Das, many residents of Ganjam district are struggling to come to terms with the rigours of life in the wake of Phailin.

The storm, which left behind a trail of death and destruction, has also triggered a major water crisis in Ganjam and other districts that bore its brunt. Health problems are also mounting with the scarcity of clean water.

The administration is trying to cope with the situation by supplying water to the affected areas through tankers. But, the efforts are falling short in the face of the magnitude of the problem.

“The tanker supply is not enough to meet our needs. At times, there is a not a drop of water in our homes. The crisis has further been compounded by the power cut. We are worried that now diseases may strike us,” said Das.

As the cyclone-hit areas reel from the worst-ever water and power crisis, mineral water dealers are raking in the moolah. Water in sealed bottles, being supplied to towns such as Berhampur from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are selling at a premium.

“They are charging almost the double, but we are still buying as many bottles as we can and storing them,” said Prakash Rao of Chhatrapur, the district headquarters town of Ganjam.

Baliapal in Balasore, Baripada in Mayurbhanj and Dasrathpur in Jajpur are also facing an acute shortage of drinking water. Though relief workers are distributing bleaching powder and halogen tablets to purify water, the people are still wary. “So dirty is the water that is available that we are not sure if these tablets will work,” said Aniruddha Jena at Dasrathpur.

Health infrastructure in the districts hit by the twin tragedies of storm and floods has suffered a massive blow. Battered by floodwaters, the district headquarters hospital in Baripada is yet to return to normality.

“We have cleared the debris from the hospital premises and are trying to restore services partially,” said chief district medical officer Chandan Murmu.

Cases of diarrhoea have been reported from Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Kendrapara, but it is far from assuming epidemic proportions anywhere.

Sources said that of the 211 diarrhoea cases reported so far, 170 were from Jajpur.

Shortage of kerosene has also been reported from certain areas, but sources said the Indian Oil Corporation had agreed to provide 3,000 kilolitres of kerosene.

Revenue and disaster management minister S.N. Patro warned that people involved in the looting of relief materials would be booked under the Essential Service Maintenance Act. BJD MPs and MLAs have decided to donate their one-month salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.