Cyclone Fani severely affects tourism industry in Puri

Puri: The extremely severe cyclone Fani that hit the coastal areas of Odisha on May 3 has majorly affected the tourism industry in Puri.

As per reports, many hotels and lodges meant for tourist accommodation have been damaged and are lying vacant. The sea-facing hotels and lodges have reportedly suffered maximum damage. While massive trees and mobile towers are leaning over the hotel buildings, property worth crores of rupees have been ruined.

In most of the hotels, cleaning has turned out to be a challenging task post cyclone. Ahead of the world famous 'Rath Yatra' to be held in July, hotel staffers are facing a hard time to restore normalcy.

Hoteliers fear that devotees and pilgrims attending the chariot festival may face huge trouble if the restoration work is not finished soon.

"I have not seen such a destructive cyclone in Puri before. The government had instructed to evacuate the hotels to minimize casualties," Kumar Haldar, one of the hotel owners said.

"Cyclone Fani has become a major headache for the tourism sector. Due to lack of proper accommodation facilities, tourist footfall in Puri will definitely reduce until the complete execution of restoration works," said Jyotiprakash Das, Puri district Collector.