Cyclone Fani: 29 deaths reported in Odisha so far

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Sunday confirmed that 29 deaths have been reported so far after cyclone ‘Fani’ hit the coastal state on Friday.

Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi said that 21 people have died in Puri while eight deaths were reported from other affected districts.

“We are still collecting information and the actual figure can be confirmed only after all the assessment has been done,” he added.

Cyclone ‘Fani’ has severely devastated Puri and parts of Khurdha district. While thousands of trees were uprooted and several houses destroyed, the cyclone also damaged the electricity and communication facilities in the affected areas.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who took a review meeting here, said that 70 per cent of water connection in Puri and 40 per cent in Bhubaneswar has already been restored.

The state government has accelerated massive restoration work across 10,000 villages and 52 urban areas affected by the cyclonic storm.

[source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link]