After Fani, Odisha finds feet again, PM visits today

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Telecom and water services were partially restored in Bhubaneswar and Puri on Sunday after the “extremely severe” Cyclone Fani caused extensive damage in Odisha, while work on a war footing is on to get back power connections as soon as possible, official sources said.

The official death toll rose to 29 on Sunday, but unofficial sources put the figure at 40. The highest number of 21 casualties was reported from Puri while eight deaths were reported from Khurda, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts, state chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said.

State government sources said the death toll could go up significantly after information from the interior pockets became available.

Major parts of Puri district, where Fani made its landfall on Friday, still remained inaccessible on Sunday. Similar reports were also coming from Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Kendrapara and Bhadrak.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the worst-affected areas in Puri on Monday morning to review the restoration work. The Centre has so far announced special assistance of `1,000 crores and another `340 crores from the National Disaster Relief Fund to the State Disaster Relief Fund.

The NDRF, the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and fire services personnel were working day and night to clear roads by cutting uprooted trees. Reports from Jajpur, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal districts said power supply was partially reported.

Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar and Puri continued to battle water scarcity and essential items. Official sources said power supply to Bhubaneswar and Puri will be restored in the next couple of days. Mobile services have been restored partially. Flight operations to Bhubaneswar resumed with 41 flights operating on Saturday, though the airport had suffered extensive damage.