A nuclear explosion, perhaps, would have had less impact than the killer cyclone. Village after village, within a radius of 200 km, have been devastated. The lush green vegetation that coastal Orissa was proud of is a thing of the past.

The affected areas, which are surrounded by water, remain cut off. After six days of the calamity, the air-dropped food relief is their only hope. But the food-drops have not reached large portions of the area, where hunger is taking its toll.

Six helicopters of the Indian Air Force have been pressed into service for dropping food. Each aircraft carries 2.5 to 2.7 tonnes of relief material. On an average, there are 30 sorties a day.

Despite dawn to dusk sorties by the helicopters, they remain inadequate inproviding succour. A copter loaded with relief material is not even enough for one village, given the high density of population. And after an aircraft makes a trip to a particular village, it does not return to the area as there are many other villages waiting for relief.

The consequence is food riots in the area. The minute an air-drop is carried out, each villager can be seen trying to grab as many bags of relief material as possible. With his hands full, he is then chased by half a dozen of his fellow villagers who have not been so fortunate. The pack then scrambles for the bags.

Men and women sprint from all directions, falling over each other and wading through water as they pounce on the food packets, which contain fattenned rice, jaggery, candles and some other items. There is no telling when the village will receive the next air-drop.