Info: Nuagarh is a small village in Puri, one of the coastal districts of Orissa. Almost every year Nuagarh gets affected by devastating floods.
After returning from the day long tour of Nuagarh, I was tired enough to retire to my bed. Though I was hungry, I did not want to have dinner that night. Even I was not in a mood to talk to my friends who asked me ‘n’ number of questions about the trip the moment I stepped into the hostel. I was completely exhausted. Still I believe I was lucky to be one of the very few who got this opportunity to actually see and feel the kind of situation the people of Nuagarh and other such villages of our state face due to the violent waters and harsh winds.
As a part of hostel life, we are regularly irregular in our habbits. We go to bed never before 2 O’clock in the night and same is the case when we get up. Never before 9, unless there is a class at 8. After finishing an assignment, chatting with friends on g-talk and watching a movie, finally when I decided to sleep, it was almost 3 am. While trying to get some sleep I could not realise how quickly time passsed and I heard my fone ringing. It was the alarm at 6 and I knew I have to get up. That day, it was quite a pain to get up at 6 and get ready by 7. Taking bath with cold water and not getting anything to eat was even worse. I was hungry and not feeling well, I was somehow able to carry myself to the main gate where the bus was waiting. After seeing all my friends I got a feeling that we are all set for an outing. A picnic probably??? Felt a bit better now. And it actually was a picnic as all the while we were in the bus, there was a lot of fun and singing and dancing untill the moment we reached Nuagarh. Just by looking at the shelter built by Red Cross, I could realise the amount of seriousness that was involved in the tour. I had seen a similar structure before. In my own village, in Jagatsinghpur. I can’t forget the 2002 floods when all my family members along with half of the village survived the massive floods because of a similar kind of structure. I just imagine, when I could not even resist a bath in a cold winter morning, how these people survived the floods for days, that too without having enough to eat and without having a roof over the head. I wish no body ever walks in their shoes. I can only imagine what the people of Nuagarh have gone through during those tough times. When men succumb to the violent waters, the shelter stands firm as a life saver. It saved lives during the super cyclone, year after year it has been saving lives during floods and it will continue to do so as long as it stands firm. Why not build similar shelters at all vulnerable places?
It was nothing less than an eye opener to visit Nuagarh and see the way Red Cross Society is helping people to face natural disasters. The self less service that the volunteers are providing is beyond any praise. They said, they are not paid and still they are working with an unmatched degree of dedication and comittment which I think is simply great. We saw various demonstrations on disaster mitigation techniques on which the villagers are being trained by the task force members. Tools like the manual siren, fast aid facility and techniques like artificial respiration are vital in saving lives during times of natural disaster. All of us were divided into 5 groups, each led by a guide who escorted the groups around the village and gave information on various points of interest. I along with my group members visited the river side and also got a chance to enjoy a boat ride. Our guide explained how the villagers worked head and shoulders with the government to build a stone embankment which stops the saline waters from entering the farm land. Upon talking to the person who allowed us to his boat, we came to know that he is a fisherman whose sole earning source is fish from Devi Nadi. He talked about the miserable condition of his family during the floods. His family was pennyless and had nothing to eat as he could not manage a catch due to the bad weather.
I also interacted with a bunch of young and enthusiastic boys and girls who were curious to know about us and the purpose of our visit. As rightly told by Partho sir, they were highly inspirited and encouraged to see us appreciating the disaster management initiatives they had taken. They asked questions about KIIT and about the educational opportunities available in Bhubaneshwar. Some of them took my mobile number to contact me regarding whatever career related information I can provide them with. They are smart, intelligent and bright enough to compete with any student who is born and brought in a city like ours but the only difference is that they are deprived of the right kind of resources and opportunities. With the limited amount of resources that I have at my disposal, I will be more than happy to be of any kind of assistance to them.
After taking a tour of the village and interacting with the locals, we returned to our base at the Red Cross shelter at around 4 pm. All through the day our guide who happens to be a Red Cross activist and also a clerk in the local high school accompanied us to all the places of our interest, and gave us necessary inputs. Together we had our lunch at the shelter. I and a very few took veg while most others preferred chicken and rice. After a very satisfying meal, we packed our bags and moved to the bus which was parked at a near by petrol pump which had ceased operating. We started from Nuagarh at 5.30 and reached bhubaneshwar at 8 o’clock in the evening. Overall, the trip was an outstanding learning experience for the young managers of KIIT School of Management. We will cherish the memories of the Disaster Management trip of 11th January 2009 for a very long time. Thanks to the Red Cross Society of India and our very own Partho sir. (Prof. Partha Sengupta, KIIT School Of Management, Bhubaneswar )
