Bhubaneswar: The landslides due to incessant rain under the influence of a Deep Depression, which made landfall along Odisha coast near Gopalpur on Thursday evening, claimed two lives in Gajapati district.
The Gajapati administration has identified the deceased as Trinath Nayak of Bastariguda gram panchayat and Laxman Nayak of Merapalli gram panchayat.
It further informed that Chief Minister Mohan Majhi has expressed grief over the landslide deaths and directed the district collector to provide an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased from the State Disaster Relief Fund.
Meanwhile, a search operation is continuing for a father-son duo – Kartik Shabara (70) and Rajib Sabar – who went missing after a landslide near Pekat in Rayagada block of the district. Six teams of Fire Service personnel along with a K9 (dog) squad have been scurrying through since Thursday to locate them.
Transport and Commerce Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, whom the CM deputed to the district to assess the situation, met the family members of those missing.
Earlier in the day, 24 tourists stranded on the Mahendragiri Hills due to a landslide were safely evacuated. The landslides had severed key roads linking Rayagada with Nuagarh and R Udaygiri.
Officials said the rescue teams, using JCB machines, cleared the debris to open the road and escorted the stranded visitors down the mountain.
Depression over interior Odisha and adjoining Chhattisgarh
The Depression is currently over the interior Odisha and adjoining Chhattisgarh, 20 km south-southeast of Raigarh (Chhattisgarh), 50 km west-northwest of Sambalpur (Odisha), about 140 km east-southeast of Bilaspur (Chhattishgarh), about 170 km south of Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh) and about 200 km north of Bhawanipatna (Odisha).
It is very likely to continue to move nearly northwards across interior Odisha and adjoining north Chhattisgarh and weaken gradually into a well-marked low pressure during the next 12 hours.
