The Odisha government has sent 500 personnel of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and the Odisha Fire Service to West Bengal ravaged by Super Cyclone Amphan.
Watch | Cyclone Amphan wreaks havoc in West Bengal and Odisha
They left for West Bengal on Saturday and would begin road clearance on Sunday morning, said Pradeep Kumar Jena, Managing Director of the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority.
“Cyclone Amphan is one of the worst disasters to hit West Bengal. The people of Odisha stand by West Bengal during this unprecedented crisis. Odisha has sent a team of 500 members, including 300 fire personnel & 10 ODRAF teams to assist in relief & rescue operations,” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote on Twitter.
The Odisha government said the State had not lost a single human life to the cyclone.
Also read: Bengal seeks help from Army to restore infrastructure
According to a damage assessment report finalised on Saturday, the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Mayurbhanj, Cuttack, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Khordha and Puri were affected. More than 2 lakh people were shifted to shelters. Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur districts were severely affected. A population of 44,44,896 was affected in 9,833 villages in these 10 districts.
“About 500 houses have been fully damaged. Crops have been damaged on about one lakh hectares. The assessment is...expected to be completed by Tuesday,” said Mr. Jena. Electricity supply has been restored to 85% of the consumers and 90% of the total mobile phone sites have been made functional.
The Ministry of Home Affairs released ₹500 crore for Odisha, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he undertook an aerial survey of the affected districts on Friday.
