CM Patnaik announces food, monetary aid for people affected by cyclone 'Fani'

Odisha government on Sunday announced surplus food and monetary aid for people after cyclonic storm 'Fani' wreaked havoc in Odisha on Friday causing immense damage to critical infrastructures, especially power, telecom and water supply.

"The districts of Puri and the parts of Khurdha have been severely affected. For all families covered under food security, 50 kilograms of rice plus Rs 2,000 and polythene will be provided," said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

He also announced to give Rs 500 and an additional one-month quota of rice to people in moderately affected districts such as Cuttack, Kendrapara and Jagatsingpur.

Additionally, the state government will also provide one-month pension and Rs 95,100 for fully damaged structures, Rs 5,200 for partially damaged structures and Rs 3,200 for minor damages as house building assistance.

"The houses that are completely damaged will be expeditiously reconstructed under housing scheme," said Patnaik.

The CM also informed that the government has restored 70 per cent of water to Puri within 48 hours. "I hope it will be 90 per cent by this evening while in Bhubaneswar 40 per cent water is restored and rest will be restored shortly," he said.

"As far as electrification is concerned, we have to be very careful of electrocution as the trees have to be removed before wiring is fixed," he said.

Earlier, Odisha government claimed that the cyclone 'Fani' has led to one of the biggest human evacuations in history as a record 1.2 million people were evacuated in 24 hours including 3.2 lakh from Ganjam district and 1.3 lakh from Puri.

Cyclone Fani on Friday made landfall in Puri with a wind speed of over 200 Km/hr. 'Kuccha' houses were completely destroyed in Puri, parts of Khurda, and other districts. The cyclone tore apart critical infrastructure, especially power, telecom and water supply.

Lakhs of trees were uprooted blocking roads, breaking homes and damaging infrastructure. The cyclone also triggered heavy rainfall in the state. It left at least three people dead and over 160 injured along with leaving behind a trail of destructions that included damaged houses, uprooted trees and electricity poles.