Cyclone Fani: Death toll rises to 33 as CM Patnaik announces relief package
Cyclone Fani
At least 33 people lost their lives after cyclone Fani struck Odisha on Friday but a timely massive evocuation carried out by the state government averted the higher death toll.
The death toll could have been much greater if not for the massive evacuation in the days before the storm made landfall, Reuters reported quoting officials.
Puri, which lay directly in the path of Fani, suffered extensive damage.
"The cyclone has killed 21 people in Puri and about 300 people are injured," Brajabandhu Dash, the report said quoting medical officer at Puri. Earlier, 12 deaths were reported from other parts of the state.
Many were left homeless after a cyclone packing winds of about 200 km per hour slammed into eastern India, ripping out tin roofs and destroying power and telecom lines, officials said on Sunday.
The depression over Meghalaya and adjoining Bangladesh has weakened, and will become insignificant in the next 24 hours, India's met department said on Twitter early on Sunday.
More than 60,000 people including officials and volunteers were involved in relief operations, said special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi, who monitored the evacuation.
Relief package
Announcing a relief package for those affected by the calamity, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said all families in Puri and in those parts of Khurda, which had been "extremely severely affected" in the storm, will get 50 kg of rice, Rs 2,000 in cash and polythene sheets, if covered under the Food Security Act (FSA).
For the rest of Khurda district -- categorised as "severely" affected -- the FSA families will get a month's quota of rice, Rs 1,000 in cash and polythene sheets, he added.
Those living in the "moderately-affected" districts of Cuttack, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur will be eligible for a month's quota of rice and Rs 500 in cash, Patnaik said.
The chief minister also announced an assistance of Rs 95,100 for "fully-damaged" houses, Rs 52,000 for "partially-damaged" houses and Rs 3,200 for houses that had suffered minor damage.
Talking to reporters here, Patnaik claimed that water supply had been restored in 70 per cent areas of the worst-hit Puri town and 40 per cent of the places in state capital Bhubaneswar.
(With inputs from agencies)