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Protracted Relief and Rehabilitation Operations

PRRO 6220.00 (pdf 419KB)

The violent cyclones, which ravaged Orissa on 18 and 29 October 1999, affected more than 15 million people, i.e. one third of the population of the State. More than 10,000 people lost their lives. Almost 2 million houses were destroyed. Assessments conducted by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Disaster Management Team (UNDMT), FAO and WFP, indicated that cash crops and horticulture were severely damaged. In the most affected districts they were almost completely destroyed and over 70 percent of cattle had perished.

The WFP Nutrition Assessment stated that state programmes that reach the most vulnerable populations (expectant mothers, infants and primary school children) had been severely weakened. The simultaneous occurrence of loss of agricultural opportunities, additional pressure on safety net programmes, significant loss of labour opportunities, and destruction of the economic infrastructure have left the State Government to address all of these problems concurrently.

The recovery process from the cyclone has been slow due to subsequent drought conditions in the state, which has jeopardized the fragile progress of rehabilitation. In the agricultural sector, FAO studies have recently indicated that small landholders and tenant farmers are facing multifaceted setbacks, with the result of cereal shortage of 68,000 Mt in the 6 WFP supported districts. Not yet fully recovered from the effects of the cyclone, GoO’s safety net system has not been able to respond effectively to the shortfall in the cereal availability to the most vulnerable population. People continue to struggle for survival from multi-sectored setbacks to their coping capacity. It raises questions about the future of the several million children and women most affected by the cyclone. Certainly special efforts are warranted for these vulnerable segments. WFP has taken certain steps in the aftermath of the cyclone. A Protracted Relief and Rehabilitation Operations PRRO 6220.00 (pdf 419KB) have been formulated by WFP.

Since the start of WFP intervention in November, 99 a total of 8,595 MT blended food, 5,513 MT rice, 542.7 MT pulses and 486 MT oil has been distributed though VGF and FFW. WFP, in collaboration with NGOs, generated 2,533,000 workdays. Of this, women perform 34 per cent of the activities.

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