By Jatindra Dash, IANS,
Kendrapada (Orissa) : Dozens of villagers in Orissa’s Kendrapada district are frantic as they wait to hear from their relatives who work in cyclone-hit Myanmar.
Sarala Nayak, 30, a resident of Batira village, is worried as she has lost contact with her husband Birabar Nayak, 37, working as a plumber in a construction company for past three years at the seaside Heho city in Myanmar.
“I tried to contact him soon after the cyclone, but could not,” Nayak said while sitting glued to the TV set as she watched surfed news channels to glance through the pictures of cyclone-devastated areas.
“Every scene leaves my heart pounding in fear and anxiety,” she said.
Sarala is not alone. The news related to the dead and missing in that country has created panic among the family members of at least 45 people in the district and its nearby areas who work in Myanmar, a local leader said.
Most of them work as plumbers. The worried relatives of the workers here learnt about cyclone Nargis from newspapers and television channels, he said.
An official of the district labour department said: “Although we know that some people from our district work in Myanmar, we are yet to receive any information from their family members.”
Prabhupada Rout, 36, of Tarasa here went to Myanmar in 2006 to work as a plumber. Each month he sends money to his aged parents.
Now, his father, Hari, does not want money. He is only praying for the safe return of his son.
Sarat Sahoo, 58, a resident of Baradia is trying to find out the whereabouts of his son Nalinikanta Sahoo, 34, who works as a plumber in a construction company at Thaton in Myanmar.
“I am frantically trying to know the whereabouts of my eldest son, Ramesh, 30, who has been working in a factory at Bago in Myanmar for two years,” said Balabhadra Pradhan, a resident of Narilo village.
Rabindra Pradhan of Tanar village tried to call his son, Pradip Pradhan, who has been working as a plumber in Karen for the last five years.
But the worried father is yet to get any news about his son. The scenes of devastation on TV and newspapers have numbed his family members, who are desperately making phone calls every now and then.
“Worried family members have been praying in village temples for the safety of their relatives in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar,” said Ramaniranjan Swain of village Badadandua. His son, Nihar Swain, 28, works at Heho in Myanmar. He said he has lost contact with his son.