Of course, some voluntary agencies have started a free kitchen at Bartol after the Army constructed a kuchcha road on Monday for disposing of dead bodies and carcasses. But here too people have to cover a distance of nearly 6 km and stand in a long queue to get a meal for the whole day. Even after 18 days of devastation that cut off Jappa gram panchayat from the mainstream, mediapersons and Army personnel were the only ones to get in touch with the survivors.

When this reporter went to the villages,those affected crawled out of their collapsed houses to beg for food and polythene. The desperate villagers just make their children lie down on the road to beg for food from visitors.

Sarat Jena, a resident of Japapari village, who helplessly witnessed his wife and two minor sons getting washed away by a tidal wave wave on October 30, said he has been surviving on tender coconut covers and tamarind leaves. ``Though food packets were air-dropped on the first two days, we were not able to get anything as all the packets were lost in the flood water,'' he said.

Though Khandagopal and Hatipara villages could be reached by the Army on Monday only, the affected villagers are yet to get any foodstuff or polythene as the Army personnel had arrived only to dispose of about 100 dead bodies in the villages. The villagers complained they had received only 3 kg of rice and 600 gm of dal from the panchayat offices. ``Despite our repeated demands for polythene sheets to save our children from the winter, theauthorities have failed to respond,'' they said. But according to the government's records, 500 gm of rice is being given to each adult and 250 gm to each minor daily besides four litres of kerosene to each family every week since November 12.

The relief commissioner for the block, Digambar Mohanty, admitted that due to limited supplies of foodstuff, about 20 per cent of the affected people in the block have been deprived of their quota.

He said they have not been able to approach Jhatibari village due to a communication failure. But after four days of efforts, they were able to communicate with people in Kankana, Patra, Chaulia and Baghedia under Ambigi gram panchayat and Dhobe Jangal, Kholapati and Bantala under Jappa gram panchayat on Sunday evening, he added.

Mohanty said in a letter to the state government he has sought immediate relief materials for the block since only 500 tonnes of the stock was left with him on Tuesday.

``Besides, till date we have been able to provide polythene sheets toonly 6,000 families against a total of 35,000 homeless families of Ersama block,'' he said, warning that if polythenes were not rushed immediately, a riot may break out.

Commissioner-cum-secretary of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department Yogendra Patra, who was on a visit to the area, said due to non-functioning of the public distribution system in the block, relief distribution had been affected to a large extent.