Restoration Work Begins On War-Footing Post Fani

By OB Bureau May 4, 2019

Fani has gone leaving behind a trail of destruction and the state’s infrastructure in disarray but thankfully, not much loss in terms of life. Odisha government’s preparedness ensured that cyclone Fani’s fallout has been minimal.

Much of the state’s communication system and power service (10,000 electric poles were damaged in Bhubaneswar) that had collapsed are already being restored. It is hoped that 25 per cent areas in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack as well as Ganjam, Mayurbhanj, Khurda and Mayurbhanj will get power by tonight. Restoration of roads has also begun and according to reports, the work has been completed in Ganjam and Gajapati districts.

No efforts spared

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has given shelter and served cooked food to 85,000 people, who were evacuated from vulnerable pockets across the city before and during the severe cyclone, which hit the city on Friday during pre-noon hours.

BMC has opened 132 temporary cyclone shelters in the city with adequate lighting, safe drinking water, habitable rooms, and power backup with standby generators, clean toilets, care for people with special need, sanitation teams to oversee toilets and cleanliness in each cyclone shelter, medical kit, and support by ASHA staff.

BMC has also given shelter to more than 691 pregnant women in the temporary cyclone shelters in different locations across the state capital. Physically challenged persons and destitute were also given shelter and served food at the temporary cyclone shelters.

Control Room

The multi-agency control room received 180 complaints till 5.30 pm on Friday, since its inception on May 1. It received 127 complaints of various nature i.e. road block due to falling of trees, water logging and damage to electric poles in different locations across the city today.

While there were more than 95 distress calls about trees falling, more than 19 calls for damaged electric poles. For drainage related issues, it received more than 10 complaints till 5.30 pm.

The multi-agency control room comprises officials from BMC, BDA, Odisha Fire Service, Commissionerate Police, Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited, Works Department, Revenue and Disaster Mitigation, PHEO, Sewerage Board, Energy Department and agencies like NDRF.

 

Preparedness

100 personnel from NDRF were deployed across the city. They were given barracks at the Reserve Police Ground and BMC Jatri Nivas. Odisha Fire Service has deployed 120 personnel across the city to carry out the relief and rescue operations during Fani.

What was damaged

While the entry to the Ghatikia pumping station was totally blocked by uprooted trees, the Old Airport Road near the Indian Meteorology Department (IMD) office was blocked for some time due to the same reason. The NDRF team cleared these locations. A large number of trees were also uprooted in Unit IV area between Assembly guest house and Kar Clinic. The road was later cleared by Fire Service personnel.

In a house collapse near Nilakanthanagar eight people were trapped and later rescued by Fire Service Personnel. A similar request also came from Dhirikuti Basti.

Close Monitoring

Works Secretary Dr Krishan Kumar, MD and CEO of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited Vineel Krishna, Vice-Chairman BDA, Balwant Singh and BMC Commissioner Samarth Verma are monitoring the evacuation, relief and rescue operations in the state capital. Senior officials of all city agencies and line departments are working in a team. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that he will visit Odisha on Monday to take stock of the situation,