Cyclone Dana: Odisha CM Mohan Majhi Lauds Efforts For ‘Zero Casualty’ With Lord Jagannath’s Blessings

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday praised the efforts of the administration to ensure zero casualties during Cyclone Dana, which struck Odisha coast late on Thursday.

“Cyclone Dana made landfall on the intervening night of October 24 and 25 between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra coasts. This process continued till 7 am, today… Rajkanika, Rajnagar in Kendrapada and Dhamra in Bhadrak experienced strong winds of 110 kmph and 40 to 100 mm rain,” he said.

“With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, timely precautionary measures, administrative promptness, and teamwork helped in the successful management of the disaster. Due to vigilant administration and preparedness, there has been no causality. The government’s target of ‘zero causality’ has been achieved. Almost 6 lakh people were shifted to safer places ahead of the landfall. Our administrative officers and rescue team were on the ground for over 72 hours,” the CM said after a post-cyclone review meeting. 

He also mentioned about 6,000 pregnant women being safely evacuated and birth of 1,600 babies.

Senior ministers and officials are coordinating relief efforts and monitoring the situation closely, he said, adding that 571 families are still in waterlogged conditions due to the cyclone. “Teams have reached the spots where electricity poles and transformers were damaged to restore electricity at the earliest. Uprooted trees from roads will be cleared by 1 pm today, and the situation will be normal soon,” he added.

Majhi has also directed district collectors to carry out damage assessments in affected areas at the earliest to determine the extent of losses.