Odisha: Cyclone Titli toll rises to 57, loss to state estimated at Rs 2,200 crore
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the compensation to the victims’ kin will be increased from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh each.
The Odisha government on Wednesday said the toll from Cyclone Titli and subsequent rain-related incidents rose to 57, including 10 children, PTI reported. The state’s loss due to the calamity is being pegged at over Rs 2,200 crore.
Heavy rain and floods that followed Cyclone Titli last week ravaged 16 of the 30 districts in Odisha. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that the compensation amount for the next of kin of those killed in the cyclone will be increased from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh each.
Thirty-nine deaths were reported from Gajapati district, believed to be the worst-affected. At least 12 people were reported dead from Ganjam district, two from Kandhamal and four from Cuttack, Angul, Natagarh and Keonjhar, said Special Relief Commissioner BP Sethi. He added that the casualties mainly resulted from landslides, wall collapses and drowning.
Chief Secretary AP Padhi said 95% of the damaged roads have been repaired. “Almost all thoroughfares have been repaired and power and drinking water supply restored in the urban areas,” Padhi told PTI. “In rural areas, work is still in progress to bring back normalcy.”
Padhi said relief material has reached all panchayat areas for distribution. Medical teams were visiting the affected areas and no major health concern has been was reported until now, he added.