Bhubaneswar: For people– both rich and poor – in Puri and Smart City Bhubaneswar in the aftermath of cyclone Fani, the problems they face are identical.
Everyone, from slum dwellers to those living in posh areas, face a harrowing time with severe scarcity of water and food, cash crunch and lack of telecommunication since May 3 when the storm struck.
Fani ravaged Bhubaneswar and pilgrim city Puri tearing apart their critical infrastructure especially power, telecom and water supply in the city after making landfall near Puri.
In the aftermath of the cyclone, the administration assured to restore normalcy within a day or two but it apparently could not deliver much because of colossal infrastructural damage.
Forget about getting water for cleaning, people of all sections are finding it extremely difficult to get water for drinking and cooking.
Thousands of residents in the capital city are making beelines at tube-wells and supply tankers to get some amount of water.
The complete outage of power has also forced the city to plunge into darkness.Severe cash crunch is forcing people to queue up in huge numbers in front of some money kiosks as most of the ATMs are inaccessible due to unavailability of power or Internet.
Students from outside of the state are the worst-hit due to the cyclone. In the wake of acute cash shortage, they are not able to return to their home state. Unavailability of online money transaction has doubled their sufferings.
Situation at the petrol pumps is also the same. While most of the fuel outlets have become non-functional, some filling stations where the oil is available are overcrowded. People are forced to wait for long hours to get fuel.
Businesses in the capital city have taken a hit following the cyclone with small to large shops and establishments downing their shutters.
The situation has compounded the problem of local residents who are now staring at severe shortage of food and other necessary materials.
