Cyclone Fani: 35 Confirmed Dead

Bhubaneswar: At least 35 people lost their lives in Odisha due to Cyclone Fani, the state government confirmed on Monday.

The death toll is likely to go up as reports keep pouring in from different affected areas, official sources said.

Puri district, which experienced the landfall on May 3 morning, has accounted for the highest number of deaths at 21, Mayurbhanj and Jajpur have lost four lives each. Cuttack and Kendrapara have reported three deaths each.

Government sources said over 1.4 crore in over 16,000 villages and 51 urban local bodies of 14 districts, namely, Angul, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar, have been affected.

The state government has sought Rs 17,000 crore, including Rs 10,000 crore for restoration of electricity infrastructure, from the Centre as part of its preliminary assessment. A central team will tour the affected areas to make a final assessment of the quantum of loss, official sources added.

Though the government said work was in full swing to restore power in the affected districts, the cyclone victims, especially in Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, complained of tardy progress and the administration’s inept handling of the situation.