Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday again reviewed the damages caused by Cyclone Dana in the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) and directed the concerned officials to submit an assessment report by November 2. This will enable provide immediate assistance to the affected people, he said.
The Chief Minister visited the affected areas by helicopter on Sunday afternoon and reviewed the situation as well as the restoration work in the evening.
Addressing the media after the review, the Chief Minister said that more than 8 lakh people were staying in 6,210 shelters but almost all of them have now returned to their homes. People of a few gram panchayats where there is water logging are still in the shelters. Currently, only 30,000 people are staying in 470 shelters.
Giving information on power supply, the Chief Minister said that so far, the power supply of about 98 per cent of electricity consumers has been normalised. A total of 22,84,000 consumers were affected, while power supply has been restored to 22,32,000 consumers so far. A few gram panchayats in Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts are still submerged. Despite this, efforts are on to restore the power supply in these places. After the water recedes, the power supply will be restored to all places. Majhi said that more than 7,000 employees are engaged in normalising power supply. He added that people are voluntarily cooperating with the workers in restoring power supply.
In order to expedite the cleaning work in the municipalities and notified area councils in the affected areas, cleaning workers have been brought in from the unaffected areas, the Chief Minister said.
Informing about the damages to the agricultural sector, the Chief Minister said that initial estimates indicate that in the agricultural sector, crops have been damaged in about 2,21,800 acres of farmland in 880 village panchayats and 4,100 villages in 12 blocks of Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts. He said that assistance will be provided after the actual report comes in.
Similarly, 335 medical teams were deployed by the Health Department. A total of 4,871 pregnant women were brought to health centers and maternity homes. The Chief Minister said that 2,529 children have been born there during this period.
Almost all the blockages have been removed from all the major roads and there is no problem in movement now, he said.
Stating that the flood threat is over, the Chief Minister said that the Budhabalang river was above the danger mark but now the water level has receded. Now it is below the danger mark. The water level, which was at 8.13 metre, is now at 7.20 metre, he said.
Informing that the Fire Services department received about 6,000 phone calls due to trees being uprooted in people’s houses due to the cyclone in various places, the Chief Minister said that immediate action was taken by the fire brigade.
The Chief Minister thanked the Government of India for its cooperation in dealing with the cyclone. He said that the Union government had sent sufficient NDRF teams to rescue people during the cyclone. Their role has been very helpful in saving people’s lives. For this, the Chief Minister said, “I express my gratitude to the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister.”
The Chief Minister said that “Through you, I thank the District Collectors and all the employees of the concerned districts. Especially, my special thanks to the District Collectors of Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj.”
The review meeting was attended by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Development Commissioner Anu Garg, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Nikunj Bihari Dhal, Special Relief Commissioner Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh, Director General of Police YB Khurania and Principal Secretaries of various departments.
