Cyclone Fani: Toll rises to 41 in Odisha, rehabilitation underway on war-footing, says state official

Bhubaneswar: The death toll in Cyclone Fani rose to 41 while the rehabilitation is underway on war-footing in the affected districts, Commissioner and Secretary, Information and Public Relations, Sanjay Singh told ANI on Wednesday.  “Forty-one casualties reported till now in Odisha,” Singh, Odisha government official told ANI. [caption id=“attachment_6573141” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Cyclone Fani, one of the biggest to hit India in years, barrelled into Bangladesh on 4 May after leaving a trail of deadly destruction in India. AFP[/caption] “There has been massive damage to power infrastructure in the state particularly in the districts of Puri, Khurda, Cuttack and Kendrapada. On war footing, we are working for restoration of power infrastructure,” Singh said. The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), under the Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha today again reviewed the rescue and relief measures in the cyclone Fani affected areas in the state with the senior officials of Odisha government and central ministries or agencies concerned. The state government informed that situation in eight out of total nine affected districts has improved. About 3,500 men are engaged in the restoration of power transmission lines, sub-stations etc and more workers would also be arriving from West Bengal and Telangana. Landline telephone services in Puri have started functioning and BSNL and other Telecom Service Providers have also somewhat improved their mobile services. The state government, in coordination with the Centre, has prepared a detailed plan identifying priority areas for restoration of power and telecom facilities in Puri and Bhubaneswar. Water supply in urban and rural areas has been restored to a large extent with the help of diesel generator sets. Odisha government also informed that additional financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crores released by the Centre had been received by them. While banking services have also resumed in Puri, non-availability of power and telecom connectivity was hampering the functioning of some ATMs. Cyclone Fani, which made landfall in Puri district on 3 May, left a trail of destruction in the state.