Fani-battered Konark slowly picking up the pieces

Konark: After 26 days since cyclone Fani pummelled Konark on May 3, the Tourism in the city is limping back to normalcy. As electricity supply has been restored at some places of Konark including the Sun Temple, tourist inflow has started to pick up.

As per the officials of the Konark NAC, power supply has been restored in six of the total 13 wards. This has brought some solace among the local hoteliers in the city as the tourist inflow has increased significantly in past two-three days.

However, the Electricity department is yet to provide power supply to Chandrabhaga and Ramchandi shrine.
“We are not facing any difficulty at Konark. As most tourists do not stay here, they do not face any problem,” said a tourist.

“After the cyclone, tourists had stopped visiting the Sun Temple. But, for the past four-five days, tourists have started visiting the monument. Had the restoration work been carried out at a faster pace, normalcy would have returned much earlier,” said Badal Das, president of the hotel association.

Meanwhile, government officials said normalcy will return in the town in next 15 days.

“In six-seven wards, electricity has been restored. Efforts are on to restore the power supply in all the wards. After 26 days of Fani, tourists have started visiting the monument. Normalcy will return in Konark in next 15 days,” said M. Sreenivas, executive officer of the Konark NAC.

After a gap of more than three weeks, local fishermen have started venturing into sea and resumed fishing activities.

“Out of 500 boats in Konark, only 25-30 have gone into the sea for fishing. But they are unable to get much catch. Our livelihood is at stake post cyclone,” said Tata Rao, a fisherman.