Gajapati: October has been an inauspicious month for Gajapati district over past few years. People were hard-hit when cyclonic storm Titli swept the district.
Super Cyclone of 1999, Phailin of 2013, Hudhud of 2014, Titli of 2018 and Fani this year brought devastations for entire Odisha. Except for Fani, all other cyclonic storms had hit the state during October.
Titli had hit the entire district resulting in a death toll of over 50 people. Moreover, Titli had affected Rayagada block and rendered thousands of people homeless in Gajapati district. Destroying the basic infrastructure, it had also impacted over 1,44,460 families in the region, official sources said.
Worthy to note here that the landslide caused at Baraghar village under Gangabada panchayat in Rayagada block during Titli had claimed 18 lives. This year also incessant rain caused landslides at the hill near Titisingh and Kulanga villages, flattening over 24 houses.
Even as the Mahendratanaya and the Bansadhara rivers flow through this district, flood situations hardly give any breathing space to residents to stabilise their economic conditions.