E-Paper
500 ODRAF men to start clearing roads in cyclone-hit Bengal from Sunday
Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Jena said the team travelled to Bengal following orders of chief minister Naveen Patnaik who had offered the State’s support to Bengal in its hour of distress.
About 500 personnel of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and Odisha Fire Service will be deployed on Sunday for road clearing operations Bengal districts hit by cyclone Amphan that hit it on Wednesday, a top official said,
Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Jena said the team travelled to Bengal following orders of chief minister Naveen Patnaik who had offered the State’s support to Bengal in its hour of distress.
Equipped with telescopic aluminum ladders, reinforced Concrete cutters, chain saw, hydraulic combi tool, hydraulic spreader, hydraulic cutter, hydraulic Ram Jack and bullet chain saw, the ODRAF team with long experience in rescue and clearing operations would clear the roadblocks.
Patnaik on Friday spoke to his Bnegal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and had assured all possible help to overcome the crisis and had enquired about the extent of the damage caused by the cyclonic storm.
Cyclone Amphan, which ripped through 16 of the 23 districts of Bengal, had devastated Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas with ferocious winds and rain, killing at least 80 people. Around six crore people have been affected by the cyclone. With a large number of trees and electric poles blocking the roads in Kolkata and several other districts, power supply has not been restored to a large part of the State.
On Saturday, 10 NDRF teams stationed in Odisha also left for Bengal for road clearing operations.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government on Saturday submitted a preliminary report on the damages caused by the cyclone in the state as well as post-cyclone restoration works to the Centre. In its preliminary report, the state government said 44.4 lakh peole in 10 districts have been affected. Besides, 8.72 lakh livestock have also been affected.
Around 34 km of 33 kilovolt lines, 453 km of 11 kilovolt lines, 680 km of low tension lines and 2,439 number of Distribution Transformers have been damaged. The government has so far restored power to 85% of the affected consumers. About one lakh hectares of standing crops have been damaged, the government said.
