Cyclone Titli: Odisha Govt Confirms Death Of 26 Persons

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Tuesday confirmed the death of 26 persons in the very severe cyclonic storm Titli on October 11.

Briefing mediapersons here, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi said that of the 26 deaths, the highest number of casualty of 18 persons has been reported from Gajapati district followed by three from Ganjam and one each from Angul, Cuttack, Keonjhar, Nayagarh and Kandhamal districts.

“Apart from the death of 18 people in the landslide in Mahendragiri hill in Gajapati district, four persons died after they were swept away in the floodwaters of a river. Besides, six persons died in indifferent incidents of wall collapse while one person died after a tree fell on him,” he added.

He said the police and the local magistrate are investigating the death of others persons as reported in the media.

Giving details of the damage caused by the cyclone and the subsequent flood, he said about 57 lakh people of 144 blocks in 16 districts have been affected. Besides, there has been extensive damage to 151 roads of about 900 km in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Kandhamal districts while 1.48 lakh hectares of paddy crops in these districts have been completely destroyed. “The collectors of the affected districts will submit a preliminary report on the extent of damage by tomorrow,” he informed.