Odisha News

Disillusionment with rebel activities has caused Six Maoists, involved in several Naxal operations(including blasting of pipeline of a private steel company, blowing up of several buildings, loot and extortions for the last five years) to surrender before the police in Odisha's Malkangiri district. They decided to return to the mainstream to lead a normal life realising the Maoists ideological deviation.

With a depression forming over the Bay of Bengal and the possibility of a cyclone looming ahead, Odisha, on Wednesday, asked the collectors of 14-districts to stay on high alert and state agencies to prepare for rescue and relief operations. The cyclone could hit coastal Andhra and Odisha on October-12 with heavy rainfall expected in Odisha over the next 2-days.

East Coast Railway on Saturday cancelled all mail, express, passenger and special trains to minimize potential damage as the high intensity cyclone 'Phailin' - said to be one of the strongest cyclonic storms - is set to hit Odisha. Also, ports in Odisha such as Paradip and Dhamra have suspended operations and advised ships to be in high sea.

Severe cyclonic storm Phailin on Sunday left a trail of destruction, hitting 90-lakh people, damaging 2.34-lakh houses, uprooting lakhs of trees, and destroying crops worth Rs.2,400-crore. Rail services in Odisha remained at halt, while power supply was cut off. Massive evacuation operations resulted in minimal loss of life, with eight deaths being reported in Odisha and one in Andhra Pradesh.

Nearly 12-hours after its landfall, cyclone Phailin, the worst storm in 14-years to hit the Odisha coast, weakened considerably on Sunday morning, moving beyond Odisha towards northwest. A dozen villages were flooded and heavy downpour is expected to continue in Odisha for next 24-hours. Odisha CM stated rehabilitation work as the biggest challenge, as relief operations started in the state.

The high-velocity cyclone Phailin that hit Odisha about a week ago is estimated to have destroyed over 26 lakh trees in the state, with about 1.1 lakh trees uprooted in the worst-affected Ganjam and Gajapati districts alone. The authorities are planning for a massive plantation drive of wind resistant and strong trees instead of fragile varieties from next year.

Omkar, a 6-month old infant who was having epileptic fits, was given intravenous fluid contaminated with ants and insects at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Post-Graduate Institute of Pediatrics, Cuttack on October-19. His father, Amar Swain, told reporters that none of hospital-staffs came forward and listened to his complaints. Meanwhile, hospital authority has admitted the lapse and ordered inquiry into it.

The slum-dwellers of Behrampur, who have been deprived of electricity since cyclone Phailin hit Odisha about three weeks ago, are celebrating this year's Diwali with solar lights, thanks to 'Bernard van Leer Foundation'. This Netherland-based NGO, in association with a local organization, distributed relief kits to 5,500 slum-dwellers before Diwali. The kit contained a solar lantern, among other relief materials.

In the wake of destruction caused by cyclone Phailin, PM Manmohan Singh on Saturday announced interim relief of Rs 1,000 crore each for Andhra Pradesh and Odisha for relief and rehabilitation. Moreover, Singh has also sanctioned an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the seriously injured persons.

Centre on Friday decided to release the first tranche of assistance of Rs 300 crore towards relief and rehabilitation of the people hit by severe cyclonic storm Phailin in Odisha, a day after CPI(M) attacked the UPA government for not disbursing a single paisa so far. The PM had announced a grant of Rs 1,000 crore.

Cyclone Hudhud, heading towards Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, is set to hit the coast by Oct 12. A cyclone alert has been issued for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and also a pre-cyclone watch for the north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coasts. Heavy rainfall is expected to occur over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Thursday and Friday.

Over 2 lakh people have been evacuated from the vulnerable coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha as the Cyclone ‘Hudhud’ is set to hit the two states on Sunday morning. The warning said, storm will hit the coast at a speed of 160-170 kmph and very heavy rainfall would take place in north AP and south Odisha during the next 48hrs.

At the speed of 180 kmph, Cyclone Hudhud hit Andhra Pradesh’s port city Visakhapatnam around 11am on Sunday. The next five six hours are going to be crucial, officials said. Earlier in the day, PM Narendra Modi chaired a high-level emergency meeting to review the preparedness. The Andhra govt has already made arrangements to evacuate more than 5 lakh people.

After Cyclone Hudhud made its landfall in Vizag on Sunday morning, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) reviewed the affected districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. According to preliminary assessment, the committee found that the cyclone has left 6 people dead in the affected states. The communication services and electricity have been considerably damaged in the affected districts.

The relief and restoration work intensified in the Cyclone Hudhud-hit areas of Odisha on Tuesday as PM Narendra Modi and CM Naveen Patnaik were scheduled to conduct aerial surveys of those areas. The CM will also hold a review meeting at Koraput (Odisha) to take stock of the situation, sources said. PM Modi will also visit hudhud-affected Visakhapatnam Tuesday.

BJD’s Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh on Sunday won the by-election for Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat in Odisha, defeating BJP’s Rudramadhab Ray by a huge margin of 2.98 lakhs votes. While the congress candidate was pushed to the third spot in the by-poll, which was held on Oct-15. Earlier, Pratyusha's husband Hemendra Chandra Singh, who died in Sept, was MP from Kandhamal.