Bhubaneswar, May 12:The state government Sunday claimed that the death toll in state due to the severe cyclone Fani has touched 64. According to a government press statement issued Sunday, 64 lives were estimated to have been lost. The State Emergency Operation Centre here in its situation report on the cyclonic storm indicated that 64 human casualties have been reported so far under the impact of the cyclone which lashed the state May 3. According to the release, the maximum number of deaths was reported from Puri district which saw a total of 39 casualties followed by Khurda district where nine persons lost life.
The deaths, according to the government, were largely due to the collapse of roofs and fall of asbestos sheets, trees and electric utility poles in several areas. The Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Secretary Sanjay Singh, meanwhile, claimed that 100 per cent power would be restored in urban areas of Bhubaneswar by Sunday night. In the press briefing, the government officials admitted that 10,000 households in Bhubaneswar were yet to be electrified. With several thousand households still remain untouched while the 100 per cent target set by bureaucrats seemed a Herculean task to achieve.
Ground realities contradict the hyped claims of the bureaucrats who seemed to flounder by late Sunday night. Orissa POST reporters who surveyed segments of Rasulgarh Industrial Area, Biswaswara Basti in Acharya Vihar saw several residents had no power since May 3. The aggrieved citizens were forced to sleep on the pavements in the absence of power in their homes. In the absence of power, residents launched protests in several pockets of Nuagaon area, parts of Nayapalli and BJB Nagar demanding restoration of electricity.
“We lost power connectivity since May 3 when the cyclone lashed our city. We have metered connections. But we are sleeping on the payment stretch from Acharya Vihar to Sanik School. The tall promises of officials to restore electricity to all houses by May 12 have failed,” said Samarendra Barik, a resident of Biswaswara Basti.
Promises by bureaucrats don’t seem to mollify Deabasis Barik at Unit IV who is exasperated after 10 days post Fani without electricity. “Since Fani has struck my family, I have been battling the sweltering days and mosquito raven nights.
The initial days were understandable but 10 days without power is overwhelming. Even my relatives who live a few kilometres away from me have the power connection restored,” Barik complained. But according to Himanshu Rout ‘grass is always greener on the other side.’ A resident of ‘Rout Residence’ at Bomikhal heaved a sigh of relief when power was restored on May 9.
However, regular power cuts meant that the happiness was short lived. “Power will come for an hour and there will be outage for 3-4 hours. What’s the point giving electricity if this routine continues? At least an official notice should be given mentioning the hours of outage so that we can do our chores prior to that,” Rout said. Responding to this, a senior official at I&PR said as the restoration work is in progress the power supply will fluctuate. Although the department claimed 100 per cent piped water supply in Bhubaneswar, Jatni, Puri, Konark, Nimapara and Khurda by Sunday night, works are still underway in the affected areas.