BHUBANESHWAR: With no report of loss of life caused by cyclone Dana, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday expressed satisfaction that the state government has achieved 'zero casualty'.
Majhi has been supervising the cyclone relief and restoration measures. He visited the relief materials preparation centre till late on Thursday and was back to take stock of the situation in wake of the cyclone’s landfall early on Friday.
“With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, precautionary measures and administrative preparedness, we successfully managed the impact of the cyclone. Our administrative officers and rescue teams were on the ground for over 72 hours,” he said after reviewing the situation after severe cyclone Dana hit north coastal Odisha.
Majhi said the rescue agencies and the administration are engaged to remove the uprooted trees in the affected areas and the road communication will be restored by the afternoon.
The cyclone during its landfall and movement left scores of trees uprooted which also impacted power supply infrastructure in the coastal districts.
Energy department officials are working to restore electricity supply in areas where there is power disruption. The electricity supply will be resumed in the affected areas by 6 pm on the day, Majhi added.
The CM said 7,000 pregnant women were shifted from vulnerable places and taken to hospitals and Maa Gruhas (maternity waiting homes) in the state and at least 1,600 children were born during the period. He also informed that the train and flight services restarted on the day.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan lauded the state government. “It is a matter of great relief to learn that there have been zero casualties in the aftermath of Cyclone Dana,” he posted on X.
This has only been made possible by the grace and blessings of Mahaprabhu Jagannath, pro-active preparations of the Odisha govt, coordinated efforts of all the rescue and relief agencies involved as well as perseverance of our people, Pradhan added.
The strong tropical weather system hit north coastal Odisha, close to Habalikhati Nature Camp in Bhitarkanika and Dhamra, shortly after midnight with wind speeds of 100 km/ph to 110 km/ph and gusting up to 120 km/ph.
Meanwhile, severe storm Dana's landfall process completed in the morning and it weakened into a cyclone. It moved in a north-northwest direction with a speed of 7 km/ph and lay over north coastal Odisha, about 40 km north-northeast of Bhadrak and 70 km north-northwest of Dhamra.
Tracking westwards across north Odisha, the cyclone is expected to gradually weaken into a deep depression in the next six hours, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).