Cyclone Fani: Houses damaged, crops destroyed in Ganjam

BERHAMPUR: As many as 1,025 houses have been damaged in Ganjam district by Cyclone Fani, which blew over its coast last Friday, according to a preliminary report prepared by the district administration.
"The extent of the damage caused by the cyclonic storm would be known after the completion of the assessment," Ganjam collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said. He added that a survey is on and it will take another four to five days to ascertain the exact number of houses that were affected by the cyclonic storm. The houses were damaged mainly in coastal blocks like Chikiti, Rangeilunda, Chhatrapur, Ganjam, Rambha and Khallikote, owing to winds gusting at 100 to 150 km in the area.
Sources said the compensation to the victims of the house damage would be provided as per the government's announcement.
Similarly, around 2,692 hectare of standing crops, mostly vegetable crops, were destroyed in THE storm. "The damage to the extent of 33% was not reported from anywhere in the district in the preliminary report," Digambar Panda, deputy director of horticulture (DDH), said.
Sources said as many as 21 animals, mostly cows, were killed in the cyclone in the district.
Though around 20 lakh people living in 2,673 villages in the district were affected by the cyclonic storm, no human was reported this time, the sources said. The collector said, "Human lives were saved due to the timely evacuation of over three lakh people to safer places."