With more than 25 lakh people in distress in the current phase of flood in Orissa, RSS-sponsored Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti (UBSS) is in the forefront of serving the people trapped in flood waters.
While as usual swayamsevaks were first to reach people in rescue and relief operations, health care service launched on massive scale has played its role in checking epidemics that normally follows devastation of this nature.
UBSS started service with 10 ambulances, doctors, trained paramedical staff and sufficient medicines in six worst-hit flood-affected districts. Subsequently four more ambulances were added.
Working round-the-clock, the UBSS team of doctors treated people in remote areas where government machinery had failed to reach.
A medical team serves more than 200 patients a day and the 14 teams put together serve number of patients that are the highest in terms of attending ailing people in flood-affected areas, only next to the reach of government machinery.
It may be noted that the UBSS team from remote part of Kanas block in Puri district carried a pregnant lady with labour pain in a boat and subsequently in an ambulance to a hospital. Though the new-born child could not survive, life of the mother was saved.
While in health care RSS has left its mark, 27 centres have been working round-the-clock manning relief and other service activities.
Dry food, cooked food, baby food and other daily essentials have been supplied in the interior and severe-affected pockets. Apart from thousands of RSS-inspired volunteers, 28 doctors are engaged in health care operation.
Orissa government announced moratorium on loan recovery from flood-hit farmers and declared that it would come out with a compensation package for the farmers within a month.
The government also declared that it would work out another compensation package for next of the kin of the flood victims and for the people who have lost their houses and property. ?We have already imposed a moratorium on loan recovery from the farmers in the flood-affected areas. The government has also decided to go for replacement of the loan taken from the cooperative banks. This apart, the government would soon announce an agriculture package for the farmers for the coming Ravi season,? State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samal said.
At least 23.3 lakh people in 12 districts have been seriously affected by the current flood in the Mahanadi system. As many as 47,031 houses have been damaged while 2.60 lakh hectares of crop area has been washed away. The Revenue Minister said road communication in the affected districts was badly hit as 108 roads had been completely cut off due to the flood.
Shri Samal informed that the flood situation in the state is improving as the Mahanadi and its branches have been continuing their receding trend.
The current flood in the state has been the fifth since July, this year. According to the official figure, at least 76 people have been killed during these three months.
