Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has undertaken restoration of roadways and drinking water supply on a war-footing in all the districts majorly affected by the very severe cyclonic storm Yaas which wreaked havoc in north-coastal and some other adjoining interior regions of the State on May 26.
Road communication badly disrupted by the cyclone has been fully restored in all the 8 affected districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur.
As per the data revealed by State Rural Development Department, communication was thrown out of gear in as many as 520 roads. A total of 2074 trees that were either snapped or toppled by strong winds during the cyclone have been cleared by disaster management personnel.
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The cyclone had also severely damaged rural piped drinking water supply in the districts of Balasore, Bhaderak, Baripada, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur and Cuttack. As per information available from the affected districts till 5 pm of May 27, in the worst-hit Balasore district where the storm made the landfall, water supply in all the 665 projects has been resumed with help of electricity supply from generator sets.
In order to meet the targets, as many as 144 generator sets have been used for the purpose. Under the Rural Water Supply division, 214 overhead tanks out of the total 440 have been filled with water. As many as 85 PVC syntax tanks have been used for supply of water to the people while 100 more have been dispatched to the district.
As of now three mobile drinking water purification plant are functioning in the district. A total of 37 electricians have been deployed to streamline and restore electricity in storm-ravaged areas for smooth supply of drinking water.
In all the 7 districts, where a total o 2392 water projects were affected out of 3064 projects, 1071 have been made functional with the help of 433 generators. In all the divisions, 1617 overhead water tanks have been filled with water out of 1849 overhead tanks.
For provision of water in inaccessible areas, water supply has been carried out with help of 512 PVC water tanks. Similarly, a total of 10 mobile water purification plants are working day and night to aid the cyclone afflicted people in the district. As many as 141 electricians have been mobilised in restoration operations in all the divisions.
In Balasore and Bhadrak alone, 15 assistant engineers and junior engineers have been roped in to oversee repair works on a war footing, said a statement released by State Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department.