Bhubaneswar: The state government Wednesday admitted that at least 57 persons had died in various incidents including flood, drowning, wall collapse and land slides in the wake of severe cyclonic storm ‘Titli’.
“Deaths of 57 persons have been reported from various districts while another 10 cases are under verification,” Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi said in the day. While 39 deaths were reported from “worst-affected Gajapati district’’, 12 casualties were reported from Ganjam, two in Kandhamal and one each in Keonjhar, Nayagarh, Angul and Cuttack districts.
Briefing mediapersons after a review meeting earlier in the day here, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said, public and private properties worth `2,200 crore have been damaged due to the twin calamities. Road network worth `500 crore and electricity infrastructure of about `133 crore have been destroyed.
Similarly, houses worth `150 crore and crops amounting to `233 crore have been damaged. The Chief Secretary said these figures do not project the final status of the losses as it will take three more days to get the final figure.
Stating that restoration work is underway in full swing, Padhi said 95 per cent of road connectivity has been restored except at places where the roads have been completely washed away or huge boulders have fallen on the road.
Electricity and water facilities have been restored in urban areas while the work is underway in rural areas. The work will probably be completed by October 22, he pointed out.
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