Fani toll rises to 64, CM promises permanent houses to families hit Old VHF system helps cyclone-hit state stay in touch
REHABILITATION House damage assessment to begin from May 15
BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Sunday revised the death toll from Cyclone Fani to 64 even as protests over the slow pace of restoration of essential services like electricity continued. Officials said Puri district alone accounted for 39 deaths.
The cyclone slammed Odisha on May 4 and destroyed houses, power and telecom lines besides laving hundreds of thousands of people homeless. A mass evacuation was carried days before the storm hit the state. Puri suffered the most damage as winds gusting up to 200 kph hit the coastal town. Fani was the strongest summer cyclone in 43 years to hit Odisha.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday said that all families, whose houses were completely or substantially damaged due to Cyclone Fani would get concrete houses.
Officials cited preliminary assessment and added over 5.08 lakh houses were left damaged, partially or fully, after winds exceeding 250 kmph battered Puri and Khurda. The cyclone affected 14 million people across over 16,000 villages and 51 urban centres.
Patnaik said a house damage assessment will begin from May 15. He added it will be completed within a week.
The chief minister said senior officers will be appointed to supervise the assessment process in all the extremely affected blocks. Patnaik assured that not a single eligible person will be left out and that work order distribution for construction of houses will begin from June 1.
Officials said an inter-ministerial team from the Centre headed by a joint secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs would start its assessment of damages in the coastal state from May 13. Another team from Union power ministry would also start assessment around the same time.
Patnaik also announced ~650 crore package for agriculture and horticulture, ~600 crore for fisheries and animal resources, ~100 crore for handicrafts and handlooms, ~200 crore for self-help groups and supply.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik slammed the government saying the package was publicity stunt. “Odisha government has failed to provide cooked food and relief material to the Cyclone Fani affected residents,” he alleged. Meanwhile, protests over tardiness in the restoration of power supply continued in the state, as a minor boy died after an electric pole fell on him in the cyclone-hit Cuttack district.
Officials said residents of Nuagada village under Cuttack Sadar station area were trying to erect an electric pole on their own when it fell on the minor boy leaving him critically injured. The boy was rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, where he succumbed to his injuries. The boy was visiting his relatives in Nuagada village.
In Samantarapur, residents blocked the Bhubaneswar-puri road asking why the government could not fulfil the promise of supply of power to all parts of the city by May 12.
In Kaduapada gram panchayat of Jagatsinghpur district, people blocked Jagatsinghpur-machhagaon road against the non-restoration of power supply.
In Cuttack district, people of Talbasta panchayat under Banki block blocked Khurda-talabasta road alleged lack of interest of officials in restoring power supply. “The villagers reinstalled electric poles on their own while the electricity staff did not show any interest. The officials had promised us to restore electricity within 30 minutes after restoration work was completed, but we are yet to get electricity,” said a villager. PURI: Officials fell back on the Very High Frequency (VHF) communication system of the Odisha police department when even satellite phones became dysfunctional as Cyclone Fani made landfall on May 4 in Puri.
The Odisha government has built about 880 cyclone shelters across the coast since a super cyclone hit the state in 1999. It also procured satellite phones for its key officials at district and block headquarters to stay in touch once the traditional mode of communications like landline or mobile phones become dysfunctional. The VHF system kept the lines of communication open in the aftermath of the Cyclone Fani as it damaged mobile towers and threw the communication system out of gear.
“As the mobile phone communication [system] snapped within the first hours of cyclone… the district collector tried speaking to officials at state headquarter in Bhubaneswar and another official at Satpada near Chilika on his satellite phone. But it was difficult hearing the other side. So we returned to VHF,” said inspector general of police (central range) Soumendra Priyadarshi.
The VHF system was set up in the offices of the district collector, public health division, local municipality, fire station, block development offices, armed reserve police office and district Intelligence Bureau unit of Puri. With no other system available, the State Emergency Operation Centre in Bhubaneswar soon got in touch with the Puri administration through the VHF system.
A revenue department official said satellite telephones work when their antennae are aligned with the satellites orbiting the Earth. “So a user needs to get out of a building and be in the open. The voice quality is not good.” Cyclone Fani knocked down almost all the VHF antennae at all police stations in Puri except the one in Town police station that miraculously survived the 250 kmph winds. At Konark and Satyabadi police stations, officials had disassembled the VHF towers before the cyclone. They quickly reassembled them after the storm passed and the system started working in a few hours.
In the control room at Puri, VHF operator Biswanath Mishra had doubts about the VHF antenna holding up against the winds as the sturdy CCTV control towers were blown away. “When a CCTV control tower banged against my window, I thought the VHF antenna would also be gone. But the voices kept cackling through the system even as the winds raged,” said Mishra. The VHF system is working well with everyone from chief secretary to the police chief using it for regular communication. “The batteries of VHF need to be charged and we had kept adequate diesel for a generator. A repeater station at Delang boosted the signal and the messages got transmitted to state headquarters,” said Mishra.
Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said the satellite phone system has its advantages and disadvantages. “We need to think of more foolproof communication systems...”