Odisha’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Sunday provided an update on the ongoing efforts to deal with the aftermath of Cyclone Dana.
He said that the extreme weather conditions have now subsided and the situation has returned to normal in the cyclone-affected districts with roads cleared and power restored.
A total of 14 districts including Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Ganjam, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Nayagarh, Cuttack and Dhenkanal have been affected by the severe cyclone.
About 35,95,015 people of 1,671 gram panchayats and 83,17 villages of 108 blocks, and 426 wards of 31 urban areas have been affected by the cyclone.
As of now, about 8 lakh 10 thousand 896 people have been evacuated and they are being kept in safe shelters and given cooked food. During the storm, 6210 shelters were opened, out of which 1178 are currently operational and people are being served cooked food there. This system will continue for the next seven days, Minister Puri said.
According to the Minister, so far 2322 quintals of Chuda and 297 quintals of Gud and 755 packets of polythene rolls have been distributed as part of relief measure.
More than 6,59,842 domestic animals have been affected due to heavy rains.
So far 335 medical teams and 201 veterinary teams have been deployed.
Till now 125091.7 hectares of agricultural land and 5839 houses have been damaged.
Due to the widespread damage of thatched houses, mud houses, and rice fields due to the cyclone, arrangements have been made by the Panchayati Raj Department to provide pucca houses from.
The Special Relief Commissioner has directed the secretaries of all departments and the Collectors of 14 districts to submit damage assessment report by November 2.
“During the storm, the successful management of the cyclone was possible due to the coordination between the various departments of the government and the most notable achievement is ‘Zero Casualty’, “Minister Suresh Pujari said in the press briefing.
