Bhubaneswar: At least 57 persons have lost their lives and 60.11 lakh people have been affected and the State, as per preliminary assessment, has suffered loss to the tune of 2,770.28 crore due to cyclone Titli that has left trail of devastation in Odisha. Titli had made a landfall near Gopalpur between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coast in the early hours of October 11.
The highest number of death was reported from the worst-hit Gajapati, a non-coastal district. While 39 people had succumbed to the landslide and cyclone in Gajapati, 12 died in Ganjam and one in Kandhamal.
This apart, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Puri and Angul have also witnessed the impact of the calamities.
According to Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), at least 57 people have been killed, 60.11 lakh people have been affected in 8135 villages in 128 blocks in these 17 districts. As many as 57,131 houses have been damaged in the calamities.
Expressing solidarity with the affected people, the Government has announced for providing gratuitous relief for fifteen days at the rate of Rs 60 per adult and Rs 45 per child per day to all affected families of Ganjam, Gajapati and Gunupur Sub- Division of Rayagada district.
Accordingly, an amount of Rs 102 crore has been released to the three district Collectors for payment as advance. While Rs 11 crore was given to Gajapati, Ganjam got Rs 89.60 crore, and Rayagada Rs 1.40 crore, respectively.
Meanwhile, the State Government on Thursday asked the Centre to release an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for relief-and-restoration work in 17 districts. The Government said last week’s Cyclone Titli and the subsequent flood caused a loss of about Rs 2,770 crore and affected 60.11 lakh people.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday urged to release an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore.
“I would request you to kindly consider the grave situation in the state on account of the Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘Titli’ and its associated impacts and request you to please release an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to the state to enable taking up relief and restoration works of immediate nature,” Patnaik wrote to Modi.
