Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja on Sunday chaired a meeting of the Special Relief Commissioner Deoranjan Kumar Singh, DG of Odisha Fire Services Department Dr Sudhanshu Sarangi, the district administration officials of Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj over video conference to review the rescue and rehabilitation work after Cyclone Dana.
During the meeting, it was observed that the situation in Gudki is yet to be brought under control due to the prevailing wind conditions. Additional fire brigade personnel have been deployed in the area and the day-to-day operation has been intensified to deal with the situation.
Thanks to the efforts of the district administration and block level officers, the fire brigade personnel in most of the affected areas have successfully restored electricity to sensitive areas, roads, houses, government offices, hospitals and schools, made roads navigable, houses flood-free and flooded areas have been cleared. The rescue operation has been completed and the victims have been rescued, a release issued by the Odisha Fire Services Department on Sunday said.
The fire brigade personnel have been carrying out rescue operations in some places of Balasore, Kendrapara, Mayurbhanj and Bhadrak districts on a war footing by cutting down trees and clearing the roads in some private areas. The above work was completed by 4.00 pm on Sunday, and a total of 745 places were cleared of felled trees and more than 250 houses were cleared of debris. Due to the high water level in the river that inundated several areas, high-capacity pumps have been installed to drain the water. According to the release, three people were rescued safely from an asbestos roof in the Dahapada area of Balasore district on Sunday evening and another person from Keshpur was trapped in a critical situation due to water logging. They were rescued by power boats.
On receiving the news of the incident, fire brigade personnel braved the adverse conditions like darkness and rescued the injured people unhurt. For this, the fire brigade has been highly appreciated by various authorities. Including the four people who were rescued in this way, a total of 22 people have been rescued from the submerged area.
