Cyclone Fani: Toll Rises to 41, Power Restoration Work on in Full Swing

Govt has confirmed the numbers without mentioning the districts where these deaths have been reported.

Bhubaneswar: By Wednesday, the toll in Cyclone Fani had risen to 41. On a positive note, the power restoration work was on in full swing with additional skilled manpower being drawn from other states, an official said.

PTI said the district collectors had confirmed four more deaths due to the cyclone which made landfall in Puri (Odisha) on Friday. Information and Public Relations Secretary Sanjay Singh confirmed the numbers without naming the districts from where fresh deaths were reported.

Sanjay Singh,Commissioner&Secretary,Information&Public Relations, Odisha: There has been massive damage to power infrastructure in the state particularly in the districts of Puri, Khurda, Cuttack&Kendrapada. On war footing, we are working for restoration of power infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/d3lsT9jj1z

— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2019

He said that restoration of water supply was the first priority after the cyclone and it had been achieved in both Bhubaneswar and most parts of Puri.

“We have engaged diesel generators in places for running the water pumps where electricity is not available,” he said. “We will be able to fully restore power supply in the state capital by May 12,” he added while briefing the media on the restoration works.

On the power restoration problem, he said that work was on in full swing with additional skilled manpower drawn from states like West Bengal, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “While 80 per cent of electricity consumers will get power by May 10, the process will be completed by May 12 in Bhubaneswar,” he added.

The power restoration work in Puri district is picking up and in the first phase consumers will get electricity in Grand Road (Badadanda) area on May 12, said Sanjay Singh, who has been assigned the task of managing media and logistics in the post-cyclone period.

As many as 1.56 lakh new electric poles were uprooted in the ‘extremely severe’ Cyclone Fani.

Meanwhile, the state government has launched relief work in Bhubaneswar and issued directions to start the relief distribution in other affected districts as well.

Apart from the water supply, lack of power supply has also hit filling stations, banking service, health services and affected more than 1.4 crore people in the coastal region of the state.