Bhubaneswar: The Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC’s) office Saturday said over 46,48,000 people in 16 districts have been affected due to severe cyclonic storm Titli and the subsequent floods.
Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada, Puri, Kandhamal, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Nayagarh, Balasore, Mayurbhanj and Angul districts have been affected due to the natural calamity, a report of SRC’s office said.
As per preliminary estimate, around 4,909 houses have been damaged in Ganjam, Kandhamal, Puri, Keonjhar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Khurda districts while crops in 1,63,866 hectares are affected in the districts.
Sources said flood-situation is expected to normalise soon as river-water levels have started to decrease slowly with dry conditions prevailing in the flood-hit districts since Friday. However, situation in Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada districts still remain vulnerable where the remote areas have been cut off due to the incessant rain that followed the cyclonic storm.
Meanwhile, two Indian Navy helicopters from Vishakhapatnam have started air dropping relief materials in Ganjam district. Ganjam has been the worst affected by the flood waters with places including Bhanjanagar, Sorada, Dharakote, Aska, Purushottampur and Seragada still marooned.
After taking stock of the situation, Chief Secretary AP Padhi said, “Restoration work of drinking water is also in full swing. Water supply has been restored in Parlakhemundi town. We expect that water supply will be restored in rural areas in a day.”
Stating maximum damage has been noticed in Aska and Purushottampur towns in Ganjam, he said power supply has been almost restored at other places in the district. However, restoration of power supply in rural areas may take a week, he added.
SRC info on Titli management misleading, says BJP
Bhubaneswar: Opposition Congress and BJP Saturday made a scathing attack on the BJD government alleging it has failed to manage cyclone Titli and the subsequent floods. Speaking to reporters here, state BJP spokesperson Golak Mohapatra said, “The state government’s tall claims that they are fully prepared to tackle the situation are artificial. The Naveen Patnaik government has completely failed to take stock of the situation which is why lakhs of people in several districts especially in CM’s home district (Ganjam) are suffering from severe flood situation.” Claiming that 17 persons have died due to cyclone in Gajapati district, the BJP leader said they have been “murdered by the government.” The party demanded resignation of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi for “giving misleading information in media.” Similarly, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik also slammed the state government over the issue. “60 lakh people have been affected by cyclone Titli. I pray to Lord Jagannath for everyone’s safety. BJD should be ashamed of itself for being so unprepared despite so many warnings and putting so many people at risk,” Niranjan tweeted. Responding to the allegations, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said, “Opposition should maintain a level of sensibility and humanity. They are trying to politicise things during such a serious situation. It is seriously condemnable.”