Titli toll now 57, CM hikes ex gratia by Rs 6 lakh

BHUBANESWAR: The death toll in Cyclone Titli and the resultant floods that hit Odisha has touched 57. An estimate of the damage caused by the combined natural disasters has been pegged at around Rs 2,200 crore.
Gajapati district has recorded maximum number of 39 deaths.

Ten people in the district are still missing. Most of the deaths in the district were caused by landslide and wall collapse. Besides, 12 people died in Ganjam, two in Kandhamal and one each in Keonjhar, Nayagarh, Angul and Cuttack districts, a statement issued by the office of the special relief commissioner said on Wednesday.

The death toll of Cyclone Titli and the floods it brought in its wake is the highest in natural disasters in the state after the Super Cyclone of 1999.

A total of 44 people had died in Cyclone Phailin and the subsequent floods in October 2013.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday visited the Gangabada gram panchayat in Gajapati district. On October 11, several people had died in a landslide in Baraghara village in the panchayat. Naveen also increased the ex gratia for the families of the deceased to Rs 10 lakh each from the Rs 4 lakh announced earlier.

"Never in the history of Odisha have people died in a landslide. This is a completely new phenomenon. All steps will be taken to rehabilitate the affected families," Naveen told reporters after meeting the disaster-hit people.

The CM distributed land rights to 10 families who lost their land in the landslide. To prevent recurrence of such disasters, he said villages located in hilly areas would be mapped for vulnerability. People would be helped to move to safer areas, he further said, adding that many residents of Baraghara village had expressed willingness to move to less-elevated land.

"These new settlements will be declared as villages and basic facilities such as drinking water, anganwadi centres, school, community centres and health facilities will be provided to them. Issues of connectivity, homestead land, house building assistance and social security will be looked into," the CM said. The state would provide for the education and other expenses of those who had been orphaned due to the natural calamity, he added.

Naveen later conducted an aerial survey of flood-ravaged Bhanjanagar in Ganjam and took stock of the restoration work there.

"The chief minister has directed that all the people who have lost houses in the disaster be given shelter under the state government's Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana," said chief secretary AP Padhi.

Restoration work in Ganjam and Gajapati was on in full swing and road connectivity had been restored to all block headquarters.

Electricity supply had been restored in urban areas and it would take four or five days to restore the same in rural pockets, Padhi added.

While damage to roads is estimated to be around Rs 500 crore, electricity infrastructure worth Rs 133 crore has been hit. Similarly, house damage is estimated to be around Rs 150 crore and input subsidy for crop loss, Rs 233 crore.

"It will take a day or two to get a full report on the damage caused by the disasters," Padhi said. The state would soon submit a memorandum to the Centre, seeking funds from the National Disaster Response Fund.