Odisha: 35 dead in cyclone Fani, 1.4 crore affected

At least 35 people died and around 1.4 crore people were affected by cyclone Fani, informed State Emergency Operation Center (SEOC) on Monday.

It also stated that 14 districts of the state, namely Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Khordha, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Puri were affected by the severe cyclonic storm.

Maximum number of people-21 had lost their lives in Puri district. Three people each died in Kendrapada and Cuttack whereas four people were reported dead from Mayurbhanj and Jaipur districts of the state.

SEOC has also stated that 16,074 number of villages and 1,40,60,602 people were affected by the cyclone.

"In Puri district, where the cyclone has made its landfall, extensive damages have occurred to all kutcha houses. Structures of temporary street vendors have been completely damaged. 160 nos. of people injured and admitted to hospital for treatment. Special Circuit House Puri, Office and Residence of SP and Collector have been badly damaged like many other buildings," stated the emergency operation centre.

The cyclone had also damaged 1031 public health facilities, 5244 primary school building and 547 secondary school buildings in the state.

State government has also informed that 14,18,082 persons were evacuated and sheltered during the cyclone whereas 24,889 numbers of tourists were safely evacuated from Puri, Ganjam, Cuttack and Balasore districts.

In the aftermath of cyclone Fani, Odisha Chief Minister has also announced package as part of which in all the affected districts, one-month additional pension and house building assistance as per relief code will be provided with a sum of Rs. 95,100 for fully damaged structures, Rs 5,200- for partially damaged structures and Rs. 3,200- for minor damages.

Meanwhile, due to cyclone Fani, ECI has extended the completion of the elections on Patkura assembly constituency for 60 days. Earlier, ECI had appointed 19th May as the date of poll for Patkura Assembly Constituency after the demise of BJD candidate Bed Prakash Agarwalla.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conducted an aerial survey to take stock of the loss and destruction in areas affected by Cyclone Fani in Odisha and announced Rs 1,000 crore more to the state government for conducting relief and restoration work. The amount is in addition to the Rs 381 crore announced previously.