By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi says, “Due to Arnab impact, in south Odisha Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, and Ganjam districts have been heavily affected.
The wind speed was between 50 and 60 kmph, but it rained heavily. 17 blocks across South Odisha received more than 105 mm of rain. Patangi block in Koraput district received the highest rainfall at 188 mm, and the Mohana block in Gajapati received 182.4 mm. Gajapati district was the most affected.
Uprooted trees were immediately cleared by fire team.With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, we succeeded in achieving the goal of zero casualties. So far, we haven’t lost even a single life. With our two Deputy CMs and six ministers, we appointed 8 ministers in 8 districts, like Malkangiri, Koraput, Gajapati, in every district. Along with that, we also gave the responsibility to one IAS officer and our RDC in Berhampur to monitor every district completely to face any situation. We have a total of 313 response teams. Out of this, there are 60 ODRF teams, 9 NDRF and 244 fire brigade teams. As per the reports we have received so far, there wasn’t any major problem. Whatever minor issues occurred, we immediately went and addressed them.
In 634 shelters across eight districts, 23,827 people were kept safe, and cooked meals are being provided to them in the relief camps. The biggest priority is to take pregnant women to safe places like health centers and provide them with proper medical care and safety. This was done for over 2,200 pregnant women.
The good news is that 931 babies were safely born.We are keeping a close eye on the situation. The cyclone has changed direction and turned towards the north, reaching as far as South Odisha. We’re keeping a close eye on how the Malkangiri district will be affected, and it won’t be an issue. We’ve also kept the whole team focused on this. Due to the rain in various districts, we’ve stationed teams right where there’s a chance of waterlogging in the low-lying areas. We’re keeping an eye on things to make sure there are no issues, and we’ll act immediately if any problems come up.
Tomorrow morning, once it heads towards Chhattisgarh, we’ll handle whatever problems come up. We’re fully prepared, so there’s no issue. The government has all the arrangements in place and the financial resources to manage the disaster. If there’s any damage to the paddy crops from the heavy rain and deep depression, we will definitely help the farmers once we get the damage report” Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari, Revenue Secretary Dr Arbinda Padhee, SRC and others were among those present.
