Reverse Disaster Tourism? Fani-hit Flock To Cooler Climes

Bhubaneswar/ Cuttack: Call it reverse disaster tourism or forced vacation. But some residents  of Twin City Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, unable to bear the torture of living without electricity for days no end, have either shifted to hotels and lodges or moved to other towns and cities in Odisha. The more affluent people are even travelling to outside the state with train and flight services gradually getting restored.

Four days after Cyclone Fani pummeled the coastal districts of Odisha, electricity has not been restored in nearly all places of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Not just students in the hostels of educational institutions are running away to their native places, but inhabitants of twin city are rempirarily migrating to cooler climes.

“What has added to the misery wrought by the cyclone is the lack of electricity and sweltering May heat. We spent three sleepless nights and were forced to shift to a hotel in Jajpur,” said Siba Mishra, a resident of Cuttack.

People of the twin city post-Fani are moving to places like Jajpur, Balasore, Rourkela, Dhenkanal to their relatives’ houses or checking into hotels. “We were getting desperate and needed relief, especially for our infant,” said Soumyakant Mohanty, a businessman from the state capital, who is visiting a relative’s house in Balasore.

What has added to the woes is the water shortage in most areas, especially because of lack of electricity. “We are not happy to leave our house and belongings in such a condition.But we were forced to do this for survival considering the care elder family members require,” pointed out Pallavi Pradhan, a Bhubaneswar-based professional who is currently visiting Sambalpur.

Even well-to-do families and senior government officers of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are  putting up in hotels and guest houses to get respite from the heat. “My young daughter developed skin rashes and could not sleep at all. So we have moved in to a hotel,” said a government officer, requesting anonymity.

People staying in apartments are cribbing little less because most apartments are providing generator facilities for water and electricity. “Some of my friends have gone to Kolkata, Bengaluru and New Delhi. But we have stayed out and hoping that things will limp back to normality soon,” noted Ankita, a student in a private university who stays with her friends in Patia area of Bhubaneswar.