BHUBANESWAR: Nearly 45 lakh people in Odisha have been affected by the extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphan, which brushed past coastal districts of the State and wreaked havoc in neighbouring West Bengal on Wednesday.
Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore have been most affected by the cyclone though its impact was also felt in eight other neighbouring districts, the State Government said on Thursday.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made an aerial survey of the cyclone hit areas earlier in the day.
Expressing deep concern over the extensive damage caused especially to infrastructure, houses and agriculture, he asked officials to restore normalcy in the affected areas as early as possible. Official sources maintained that manpower and materials have been mobilised for restoration work on a war footing. Road clearance and connectivity issues will be sorted out by Friday morning while power supply in areas under CESU will be restored in next 24 hours and areas under NESCO in 72 hours. Agriculture crop damage assessment will be conducted in next three days and survey of damages to houses and buildings will be completed in a week’s time.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also spoke to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during the day and assured all Central help to deal with the situation. Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy also apprised Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba about the damage caused by the cyclone.
Amphan, which triggered heavy rains and accompanied high-velocity winds, affected over 44.80 lakh people in 1,500 gram panchayats, despite the Odisha Government evacuating around two lakh people from vulnerable areas ahead of landfall, he said.
Tripathy said the restoration work is in underway on a war-footing, particularly in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore, and road connectivity is likely to be restored shortly. But it will take a day or two to fully restore power supply, he said.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marndi said crops have been damaged in more than one lakh hectares. District collectors have been asked to submit initial damage assessment reports in two days and send detailed reports about the extent of damage to agriculture and horticulture after that, he said.
Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena said that disaster response teams and fire department personnel are working on a war-footing to restore communication.
Official sources said that power supply to around 80 percent of the affected areas including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack has been restored.
PM Modi to visit Odisha today
Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha on Thursday to take stock of the situation in the wake of cyclone Amphan. Accompanied by Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Chandra Sarangi, he will undertake an aerial survey of affected areas and take part in the review meeting at Biju Patnaik International Airport here. Earlier, the Prime Minister had said that authorities are working at the ground to ensure all possible assistance to the affected people. “My thoughts are with the people of Odisha as the state bravely battles the effects of Cyclone Amphan. I pray that the situation normalises at the earliest,” he said in a tweet.