INDIA Orissa, a Christian village was evicted by landslides in the Khandamal district

A hundred families, sheltered for ten days in a public school, have asked for decent accommodation. NGOs mobilized together with local authorities to respond to the emergency. Father Madan Singh visited the evacuees: “We accompany them in their suffering.”

Bhubaneswar () – In the Kandhamal district of Orissa, infamous for the violence of 2008, a landslide caused by heavy rains a few days ago devastated the village of Kumbaripadar where a Christian community lives. The catastrophe occurred on October 5 and since then the population has taken refuge in a public school building set up as a relief camp.

A few days ago, Father Madan Singh, director of Jana Vikas – a social services center in the Kandhamal district – visited the community to bring closeness and psychological support to the people. “There are 101 families left homeless,” he tells , “and 56 of them are Catholic families. At the moment they are staying at the Tamangi school, half a kilometer from the town. The district authorities take care of their food and their health. But the people are afraid to return to the village. The geologists have not yet gone to check the stability of the land and the government has promised to carry out a study to be safer. The students in the area cannot have classes normally. Besides, As it continues to rain every day, daily life is very complicated. People have asked to be moved to another place nearby.”

They have many urgent needs: soap, oil, candles, mosquito nets, blankets, sheets, hygiene products… “All the NGOs in the Kandhamal district – continues Father Madan Singh – have collected funds and handed them over to the authorities to that they can take care of them. At Jana Vikas we have also contributed. But, above all, we went personally to be with them, to support and comfort these people”.