BHUBANESWAR: A four-member team of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) took stock of the situation in cyclone Fani affected areas in Puri district on Wednesday.
Deputy Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Prabhat Ranjan Mohapatra informed that the NDMA team headed by Kamal Kishore reviewed the ground situation in Puri.
The Central team had reviewed the restoration work in the Capital City and other parts of Khurda district on Tuesday.
Mohapatra said after taking stock of the situation, the team will convene a meeting with Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi and other State Government officials and may suggest some additional measures to deal with such catastrophes.
After arriving in Odisha on Tuesday, the team members had a meeting with SRC Bishnupada Sethi and other officials of the State Disaster Management department.
The NDMA officials praised the State for its effective preparedness and restoration measures before and after the cyclone that wreaked havoc in coastal districts after making landfall in Puri on May 3.
Sources said the NDMA team took stock of the extensive damage caused by Fani to power and telecommunication infrastructure and interacted with the administration of the affected districts to know the progress of restoration works.
Sethi said during the meeting with NDMA officials, the State Government deliberated on building long term disaster resilience infrastructure and underground cabling in coastal districts.
Officials said a special team from Ministry of Home Affairs is also expected to visit Odisha to assess the loss due to Fani.
Collector submits damage report
District Collector Balwant Singh pegged the loss caused by Fani at Rs 5003.14 lakh in his report to the NDMA team.
This includes 33 lakh hectare of agriculture land, 2,78,762 houses, 160 school buildings, 564 classrooms and 1000 fishing boats which were damaged by the cyclone. Besides, 1,796 cattle, 1,400 goat and sheep were killed in the cyclone.
The NDMA team took stock of the situation in Krushna Prasad, Brahmagiri and Puri Sadar blocks.