3 killed, six districts affected in Odisha nor'wester

Three persons were killed on Wednesday and six districts affected in the nor'wester in Odisha, said an official on Thursday.

Deputy Relief Commissioner Prabhat Ranjan Mohapatra said while two persons were killed after tree branches fell on them in Balasore and Bargarh districts during the rain, another person was killed in a wall collapse in Mayurbhanj district in the squall last night.

A report from Malkangiri district said that three persons were injured in the nor'wester accompanied by heavy rain, he said.

He said the government had received preliminary reports from six districts -- Bargarh, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Balasore, Sonepur and Mayurbhanj -- so far on the impact of unseasonal rain.

"Major damage to crops and houses have been reported in the six districts and Bargarh remains the worst hit," said the official.

The government has provided a compensation amount of Rs 5.31 lakh to the families for construction of houses in Mayurbhanj district.

Other districts had been asked to submit reports on major damages due to the unseasonal rain, he added.

"The crop loss assessment has not been done yet as it is just the initial report," Mahapatra added.

According to preliminary reports, in all 456 people died due to lightning during 2017-18.

Lightning has become a major disaster in the state that claims more than 400 human lives on an average every year.

In comparison to other natural calamities that cause more economic losses, the death toll due to lightning is much higher in Odisha. The loss of 456 lives in 2017-18 is a 15 per cent increase over that of the last year, according to an official.

--IANS

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