BERHAMPUR
: For 12-year-old Simanchal and his two younger brothers of Barghara in Gajapati district, the year was one of rude awakening and one of personal loss. It is the year they lost both their parents in the landslide triggered by cyclone
Titli
which hit the district on October 11.
“We will never be able to forget this year,” said Simanchal, who along with his two brothers — Kartika (8) and Rama (5) are living at Naba Jiban Blind and Relief Centre, a child care institute at Paralakhemundi. They are among the six children who have been orphaned during the cyclone.
The brothers lost their father Dandapani Bhuyan and mother Sumitra in the massive landslide that struck their village under the influence of Titli. Thirteen-year-old Ganapati and his 11-year-old sister Mili of Garabandh became orphans after their father Sekhara Sabara died in the cyclone. Their mother had died some years ago. The children survived by the stroke of luck. Mili was in the school hostel at Kainpur and Ganapati was out of the village on that day when the floods hit.
When the district administration came to know of the situation, they decided to rehabilitate them. “The administration will take care of them as per the guideline of the child welfare committee (CWC),” Gajapati collector Anupam Saha said.
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