Central team’s Odisha visit on May 12 to assess Cyclone Fani effect

An inter-ministerial team will arrive in the State on May 12 to assess the damage caused by the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani which hit Odisha coast on May 3.
A park ravaged by cyclone Fani in Bhubaneswar on Friday | Irfana
A park ravaged by cyclone Fani in Bhubaneswar on Friday | Irfana

BHUBANESWAR: An inter-ministerial team will arrive in the State on May 12 to assess the damage caused by the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani which hit Odisha coast on May 3.

The team, led by Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Vivek Bharadwaj, will arrive at the Capital City on May 12 evening and hold a high-level meeting with senior officials at the State Secretariat.
The team will leave for a three-day visit to the cyclone-hit districts on May 13 for an on-the-spot assessment of the damage. After winding up its visit, the team will hold another round of meeting with State Government officials in the evening of May 15 before leaving for Delhi. The team will submit a report to the Centre on the damage caused by the cyclone.

The situation report of the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said the cyclone damaged 5,08,467 houses. Besides, 34,56,362 livestock were killed. However, the number of human casualties remained the same at 41.

Nearly 1.9 lakh houses have been damaged in Puri which was in the eye of the storm. Telecom network has been down in a wide area. All telephone and cell phones are down in Puri district. Telephone and mobile connectivity have also been severely affected in Khurda including Capital Bhubaneswar.

The cyclone has also severely damaged educational institutions across the affected districts. The report said 5,244 primary and 1,547 secondary school buildings and 180 higher education institutions have been damaged. Besides, the tropical storm has damaged 980.69 km of river/saline embankments.

According to the situation report, the cyclone has caused 227 breaches, damaged 5,596 km road and 326 culverts. Besides, 556 roads have been blocked due to uprooted trees, electricity poles and wires and cyclone debris. Officials said 9693.25 km of rural development roads and 4,610 buildings have been affected.

The cyclone has also affected 3,290 community lift irrigation projects in Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Nayagarh districts. The report said clearing of roads is going on and power restoration process is in full swing. Considering the serious disruption of electricity supply, road communication, telephone and mobile connectivity, additional support has been rushed for immediate restoration work.

The report maintained that in the worst affected Puri district, 70 per cent of roads have already been cleared. Besides, restoration of 132 KV Puri-Nimapara electricity line is going on. Traffic movement has been restored in all the PWD roads of the Capital City.

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