It starts with the very first day of stepping into med school; medical students learn about diseases and death. Every chapter of every subject they read might have different content, but the motive is the same: to save the life of a patient. Every time a patient enters hospital premises, it's a silent prayer, a silent hope of every doctor that the patient returns with proper treatment. Often doctors are misunderstood due to communication gaps, knowledge gaps, management mishandling, and many more reasons. With years of seeing deathery day, they do get immune to it, but that does not change the fact that a doctor is always there for the patient. And if the patient cannot reach the hospital, it is the doctor who will reach the patient. That was the reason Jahnvi thought to herself that she could see a number of doctors from different parts of the country and local medical officers of Kendrapara district ready to help the public with all their knowledge.
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It was afternoon; her bus was about to reach the destination. Humidity and sweat clinging to her clothes. She was sitting next to the window; all she could see through the window was the wreckage. Huts made of mud were all gone, leaving nothing but their ruins. Some of the concrete houses she could see had missing walls and broken roofs. Trees that were a source of shade till yesterday were sprawling across the road and residential areas, damaging structures, their roots on display. Electric wires had entangled across the ruins.
It all smelled of wet mud, but not in a petrichor way, in a way that broke her heart. Sounds of distressed animals were ringing in her ears; they too were in need of help, she thought to herself. She could hear people calling their loved ones, searching for them amidst the ruins.
She could see men, women, children, and animals and could sense their distress. She saw a small child, maybe four or five years old, carrying his younger sister, who might be a year old at most, searching for his parents. She saw an old woman searching for something in the remains of what might have been her home a few days back. She could see the destruction caused; she could sense the pain.
Unable to take it anymore without tears, she shifted her gaze to her teammates so that her eyes would not get wet. She saw Dr. Reeta going through papers; she was definitely in her PSM resident mode. There's a lot to learn from her here. Dr. Rohit was bickering with Sonali; they both were in some deep argument, and it brought a smile to her face. She sensed Dr. Niharika dozing off next to her, and Rakesh was busy going through all the medicines he had to procure and what they had brought from Delhi. Their familiar faces brought warmth to her chest.
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It took another half an hour when the driver said, This is the farthest he can drive; the road ahead is destroyed by heavy rain. If they go by walk, it will take them around fifteen minutes to reach Palanpur village. Left with no choice, they had to. After stepping out of the bus, her team could sense the gravity of the situation. Till now it felt like they were spectators of the situation; after stepping foot on the ground, they felt they had to treat the people who were left helpless by this disaster.
As they were approaching near the village, Jahnvi started noticing humans amidst the chaos. There were overcrowded camps filled with local people. There were teams of NDRF, SDRF, police forces, armed forces, ASHA workers, and NGOs. She could see the helicopter in the sky, in search of people. She did see a double-story building, left untouched by the havoc. There were sandbags, barricades, and ropes around it, and men in uniform were guarding it. Painted in white. There were visible cracks on the walls; it surprised her how a building with so many cracks survived such strong winds and rain. On top of it, something was written with blue paint; it was in Odissi, so she could not understand it. There were a few more paintings on the wall; seeing them, she felt, maybe this is the panchayat bhavan of this village.
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The village of Palanpur, in the Kendrapara district of Odisha, is situated very near to the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Very often during high tides, water reaches the boundaries of the village. It was sure that Cyclone Montha would create havoc here. So, with calculated moves, more than four hundred villagers were relocated before it hit the coast. Yet, there were casualties and destruction.
When a cyclone occurs, it's not just the time during it that is crucial. When the sea decides to calm down after a destructive dance, it leaves behind it problems that will haunt the humans for the upcoming few months. Immediate attention has to be given to prevent waterborne, foodborne, and vector-borne diseases. Infectious diseases that spread via close contact need to be checked as well. There is a shortage of food and drinking water that has to be addressed. Snake and other poisonous animal bites need to be taken care of. The distance between wild animals and humans blurs, creating stressful situations. Overall it leaves people helpless.
And this helplessness sometimes takes the form of stampedes, looting, overrunning, and even riots in extreme cases. There are instances of fire set by the public due to panic.
Government supply of rations, basic medications, mosquito nets, and other essentials is limited and only avanationalo National and state-level disaster management bodies. Even after the storm ends, committees dissect every move made. Nothing escapes the paper trail. This scrutiny leaves very little space for officials to take steps with their emotions. Even ORS packets have to be procured through approvals.
To prevent a stampede or any other untoward incident by a panicked public and to keep in check that everything is being used judiciously, these supplies are often stored in some government building with police and armed forces guarding them. These people themselves cannot use the supply without NDRF or SDRF approval.
To guard one such panchayat bhawan building in the Palanpur village of Kendrapara district, Captain Aditya and his team have been posted. He wasn't just guarding supplies. He was guarding silence, panic, and the thousand invisible questions villagers carried in their eyes.
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