Finance
Again on sunday, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi examined the damage caused by Cyclone Dana in the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) and asked the concerned officials to submit an assessment report by November 2. This will allow him to provide quick support to those affected, he said.
The Chief Minister flew by helicopter to the damaged districts on Sunday afternoon and evaluated the situation as well as the restoration efforts that evening.
Following the inspection, the Chief Minister told the media that more than 8 lakh people were housed in 6,210 shelters, but practically all of them have returned to their homes. People from a few gram panchayats affected by flooding remain in shelters. Currently, only 30,000 people are sheltering in 470 facilities.
In terms of power supply, the Chief Minister stated that around 98% of electrical consumers have had their power restored. A total of 22,84,000 consumers were affected, with 22,32,000 having their power restored thus far. A few gram panchayats in Kendrapara, Bhadrak, and Balasore districts remain underwater. Despite this, efforts are on to restore the power supply in these places. After the water recedes, the power supply will be restored to all places. Majhi said that more than 7,000 employees are engaged in normalising power supply. He added that people are voluntarily cooperating with the workers in restoring power supply.
Cleaning workers from unaffected areas have been brought in to expedite cleaning operations in the impacted municipalities and informed local councils, according to the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister stated that preliminary estimates indicate that crops have been damaged in approximately 2,21,800 acres of farmland in 880 village panchayats and 4,100 villages in 12 blocks of Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, and Mayurbhanj districts. He stated that assistance will be provided after the actual report is received.
Similarly, the Health Department deployed 335 medical teams. A total of 4,871 pregnant women were taken to health care facilities and maternity homes. The chief minister stated that 2,529 children have been born there during this period.
Almost all the blockages have been removed from all the major roads and there is no problem in movement now, he said.
Stating that the flood threat is over, the Chief Minister said that the Budhabalang river was above the danger mark but now the water level has receded. Now it is below the danger mark. The water level, which was at 8.13 metre, is now at 7.20 metre, he said.
Informing that the Fire Services department received about 6,000 phone calls due to trees being uprooted in people’s houses due to the cyclone in various places, the Chief Minister said that immediate action was taken by the fire brigade.
The Chief Minister thanked the Government of India for its cooperation in dealing with the cyclone. He said that the Union government had sent sufficient NDRF teams to rescue people during the cyclone. Their role has been very helpful in saving people’s lives. For this, the Chief Minister said, “I express my gratitude to the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister.”
The Chief Minister said that “Through you, I thank the District Collectors and all the employees of the concerned districts. Especially, my special thanks to the District Collectors of Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj.”
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Development Commissioner Anu Garg, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Nikunj Bihari Dhal, Special Relief Commissioner Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh, Director General of Police YB Khurania, and Principal Secretaries from various departments all attended the review meeting.
