Cold wave sweeps Odisha’s Koraput district; affects Hudhud-hit the most

Reported by Ranjan Rath
Koraput, Nov 8:

Winter has set in undivided Koraput district in southern Odisha nearly a month behind schedule.

According to reports coming in from interior parts of the pre-division Koraput district, intense cold prevailed in Lamba, Khambesh, Khajuri, Kashipur, Mukundpur, Chandrapur and Gudari areas on the foothills of Niyamgiri in Rayagada district; Pottangi, Damanjodi, Sunki, Nandapur, Semiliguda, Laxmipur and Kakarigumma areas in Koraput district and Khairput, Mathili, Kalimela and Kudumulgumma areas in Malkangiri district.

A vast layer of fog has set in along the Niyamgiri and Deomali hill regions of the Eastern Ghat.

While outdoor activities come to a virtual standstill in all these villages by evening, people are seen basking in fire in groups to escape from the intense cold.

Life has become particularly difficult for those who lost their houses in Cyclone Hudhud. With no roof overhead, these cyclone-hit tribals have no other way but to spend the night with their family in the warmth of a fire lit in their courtyards.

Due to the sudden onset of winter, the sale of winter clothes has gone up at the weekly haats in the district.