Saswat Singhdeo

Bhubaneswar: An 11-member team from the Centre led by Additional Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, Vivek Bharadwaj today took stock of the situation in the cyclone Fani-affected areas of the State.

After meeting the Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi in the morning today, the team members, in two groups, visited different cyclone affected areas. One of the teams went to Arakhakuda in Krushnaprasad block of Puri & Hasinapur village in Brahmagiri to assess the damage & discuss issues concerning cyclone affected residents.

An elderly woman broke down while speaking to the members of the central team and alleged “I have not received anything. I am living under extremely difficult conditions as my house is completely destroyed.”

The team members also visited Kanas and Delang areas along with Odisha Health Department Secretary Pramod Meherda, Industries department Secretary & Puri Collector Balwant Singh.

“The central team visited the area and assessed the damage caused by the cyclone. They also spoke to people regarding their problems,” the Puri collector said.

Another team visited several blocks of Khurda, Balipatna, Jatani and Bhubaneswar to assess damages. The team gathered information on the loss incurred by farmers, damages to the power supply infrastructure, schools and residential houses and distribution of relief materials.

Meanwhile, a high-level meeting was held at the Secretariat today regarding the restoration and relief work in cyclone-hit places of the State. The meeting was attended by members of both the Centre and the State government.

"Most of the banks have started functioning in Puri and by today evening all the banks will become completely functional. In those places where there is no internet, offline operations will be started," Odisha Chief Secretary, AP Padhi said after the meeting.

Union Power Secretary Ajay Bhalla assured that power will be restored soon in Puri district. Additional Secretary of Department of Telecommunication, Anshu Prakash, informed that restoration work is currently underway in Puri, Cuttack and Khurda districts to restore telecom services.

"In all districts barring 3, the telecom infrastructure has been nearly restored. Now we are focusing on Puri where the damage was most extensive and also on Khurda & Cuttack," said Anshu Prakash.

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