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Odisha begins rebuilding amid Fani relief challenge
Disaster relief agencies faced challenges in providing food, medicine and drinking water to affected households, while many others were still inaccessible due to disruptions in telecommunications and road connectivity, officials said
Thousands remained homeless on Sunday in the aftermath of Cyclone Fani, a severe storm that killed at least 34 in Odisha, even as authorities shifted their focus to rebuilding infrastructure in vast swathes of land ravaged by winds of up to 205 kmph, the strongest such summer occurrence to hit the region in 43 years.
Disaster relief agencies faced challenges in providing food, medicine and drinking water to affected households, while many others were still inaccessible due to disruptions in telecommunications and road connectivity, officials said. Residents in several rural pockets of Puri and Khurda complained of shortage of essentials, especially food items and medicines.
Energy secretary Hemanta Sharma said initial estimates showed the cyclone caused infrastructure damage worth more than ₹1,200 crore.
The death toll due to Fani, which means the hood of a snake, rose to 34 on Sunday, two days after the cyclone barrelled through the state’s coastal areas.
Sharma said about 3 million electricity consumers in the state were affected by the cyclone. While it could take up to seven days to restore normal supply in Bhubaneswar, some residents in Puri may have to wait a little longer, he added.
In Puri, which bore the major brunt of the storm, debris of damaged houses and tree branches littered the streets. Relief teams were working on a war footing to clear the streets but several roads in the interior parts of the town were still to be cleared up. According to chief secretary AP Padhi, 21 of the 34 deaths were registered in the district.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced a relief package, saying that all families in Puri and parts of Khurda will get 50kg rice, ₹2,000 and polythene sheets under the Food Security Act (FSA). For the “severely affected” category in Khurda, the FSA families will get a month’s quota of rice, ₹1,000 and polythene sheets, he added.
“We are in the process of restoring physical infrastructure,” the CM said.
Odisha is no stranger to cyclones wreaking havoc. The super cyclone that hit the state in 1999 killed between 9,000 and 10,000 people. The second strongest, Phailin, hit the state in October 2013, and the death toll was limited to 30. “Fani was one of the rarest of the rare summer cyclone – the first one in 43 years to hit Odisha and one of three to hit the state in 150 years,” Patnaik said on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Keshari Deb said: “Restoring the smart city of Bhubaneswar to what it was would itself require huge funds and efforts and so would the restoration of power and housing infrastructure in the districts of Puri, Khurda and Cuttack.”
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said early on Sunday that the depression over Meghalaya and adjoining Bangladesh had weakened, and would become insignificant in the next 24 hours. The cyclone killed at least a dozen people in Bangladesh after crossing over West Bengal on Saturday.
While many evacuees were returning to their homes from cyclone centres, those whose houses had been damaged were being provided shelter and relief, said Santosh Dash, public relations officer for Odisha’s disaster management department. An estimate wasn’t immediately available on the number of houses destroyed in the storm.
Chief minister Patnaik said an assistance of ₹95,100 each will be provided for “fully damaged” houses, ₹52,000 for “partially damaged” houses and ₹3,200 for houses that had suffered minor damage.
He said water supply had been restored in 70% areas of the worst-hit Puri town and 40% of the places in state capital Bhubaneswar. “I am hoping that water supply will be fully restored in Bhubaneswar shortly and at least in 90% areas of Puri town by this [Sunday] evening,” said the BJD chief, who is seeking a fifth term in office in this summer’s Lok Sabha elections.
“The government has made arrangements to provide cooked food for free over the next 15 days. We will also take up tree plantation on a mission mode,” he added.
The chief minister, however, could not give the details on the status of the ongoing work for power restoration in the affected areas. “We have to be very careful to avoid accidental electrocution,” he said, when asked if power supply will be restored in the capital city, which continued without electricity for the third day on Sunday.
More than 60,000 people, including officials and volunteers, were involved in relief operations, said special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi, who monitored the evacuation. He said that veterinary professionals have been deputed to ensure that no disease spreads from cattle. Medical professionals are also in the field to prevent possible outbreaks of epidemics, Sethi added.
Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani of the ruling Biju Janata Dal said the damage from the storm was still being assessed. “The administrations in each affected district have been asked to compile data on broken houses. This is not complete yet. Once we have the data, compensation for rebuilding those will be planned,” he said.
In Satyabadi block of Puri district, people blocked traffic on the Bhubaneswar-Puri national highway to demand material to cover the roofs peeled off in the storm.
“We are waiting for food and water for the last two days... What is the point of keeping the relief materials in office when people are suffering?” said Trilochan Maharana of Rebana Nuagaon village of Bramhagiri block. There were tensions in a few areas as residents demanded prompt action by relief officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha on Monday to review the situation. He spoke to Patnaik on Saturday and assured support from the Centre for the rehabilitation work in the wake of the storm.
The East Coast Railway (ECoR) partially resumed operations on the Howrah-Chennai route on Sunday.
“Barring the Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express and the Visakhapatnam Intercity Express, all trains originating from the state capital, including the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, will be running normally from Sunday,” an ECoR official said.
(With PTI and Reuters inputs)
