

BHUBANESWAR: With hundreds of people missing in Nepal following deadly flash floods, the Odisha government on Wednesday activated a 24x7 control room at Odisha Niwas in New Delhi to assist people from the state.
There is, however, no official information yet on whether any person from Odisha has been affected by the disaster.
Additional Chief Secretary of the Home and Information & Public Relations departments Hemant Sharma said the control room was set up on the advice of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and a helpline has also been issued.
“The state government is waiting for more details and by Thursday morning, there will be more information. It is not officially known as yet whether any tourist from Odisha has been affected in the floods,” he said.
Pritish Panda, Officer on Special Duty at the Directorate of Odisha Parivar, has been appointed nodal officer. He said he was in touch with the MEA to ascertain whether any people from Odisha had been affected.
“The Nepal government has not released any state-wise data as yet,” Panda said.