Brahmapur: In a touching display of empathy and administrative sensitivity, government employees across Odisha’s Ganjam district have voluntarily donated a day’s salary to aid relief and rehabilitation efforts following recent devastating floods.
This followed an appeal by Ganham Collector Keerthi Vasan, urging employees of all central and state government departments, public sector undertakings, Panchayati Raj institutions, municipal corporations, banks and educational institutions in the district to voluntarily contribute a day’s salary towards flood relief. The contributions will be deposited in the ‘Arnab Sahayata Panthi Ganjam’ fund constituted to provide assistance to families struggling to rebuild their lives after the floods.
Building on this spirit of solidarity, the Ganjam district administration also stepped forward to ensure that families reeling from the devastation of recent floods can still experience the joy and warmth of the festival of lights. Officials personally visited hard-hit pockets to share in the festivities and distribute custom Diwali gift kits containing traditional earthen lamps, wicks, sweets, lungis, sarees, and essential supplies, with packaging coordinated by the Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society at Chamakhandi under Chhatrapur block.
At Baranga village within Badamadhapur Gram Panchayat in Chhatrapur block, Chhatrapur MLA Krushna Chandra Nayak, District Collector V. Keerthi Vasan, Zilla Parishad Chief Development Officer Sameer Kumar Jena, Additional District Magistrate Debadatta Panda, Chhatrapur BDO Sambit Sangramjit Sahu, and Block Chairperson S. Sharada Reddy joined residents for the occasion. The dignitaries offered prayers and lit lamps at the village deity’s temple before visiting local households, including that of Kishore Maharana, to hand over the gift kits, later joining village children in lighting firecrackers.
Parallel celebrations took place at Handighara village in Purushottampur block, led by Chhatrapur Sub-Collector Shivashis Baral and Purushottampur Tehsildar Binod Kumar Behera, while the District Collector also visited victims in Navaratnapur village within Asika block.
Alongside the flood damage, tragedy struck on November 5 when search teams recovered the bodies of five family members, a couple and their three children, from beneath the debris of a devastating landslide at Gidipabali village, concluding a week-long search operation. While two bodies had been recovered earlier, another six persons remain missing out of the 13 reported trapped in the landslide.
These outreach efforts, combining the voluntary salary contributions by government employees with direct participation in Diwali celebrations, aimed to bring reassurance and a measure of joy to families who had endured significant losses. Police personnel in the district further extended support by distributing blankets, clothes and study kits in several affected localities, reflecting a broader collective response to the hardship caused by the floods.