Cyclone Fani: 64 People Died, Over 1.4 lakh Hectare Crop Area Affected in Odisha, Home Ministry Informs Lok Sabha

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New Delhi: The rarest of rare summer cyclone ‘Fani’ that made landfall in Odisha on May 3 caused death of 64 people and affected over 1.4 lakh hectare crop area in the State, the Home Ministry said on Tuesday.

In Odisha, 5.56 lakh houses and huts were damaged, 6,281 cattle were lost, 1,48,663 hectare of cropland affected and 6,416 boats and 8,828 nets were damaged due to the cyclone Fani, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told Lok Sabha in a written reply.

In addition, infrastructure like roads, power, railway, telecommunications etc. were also damaged in Odisha, the minister said.

Cyclone Fani affected three states — Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

There was no loss of human lives in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
A total of 222 houses/huts were damaged, 28 cattle were lost and 1,365 hectares of crop area was damaged in Andhra Pradesh.  In Bengal, 29,260 houses/huts were damaged and 1.12 lakh hectares of crop area was affected due to cyclone Fani.

To prevent loss of human lives, a record 15,57,170 persons in Odisha, 17,460 persons in Andhra Pradesh and 2,34,801 persons in Bengal were evacuated to safer places, he said.
The Centre has released in advance an assistance of Rs 1,086 crore (Rs 340.875 crore to Odisha, Rs 200.25 crore to Andhra Pradesh, Rs 235.50 crore to West Bengal and Rs 309.375 crore to Tamil Nadu) from SDRF on April 29 to support the affected people in the states, he added.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Odisha after the cyclone, the central government released an additional Rs 1,000 crore to the state government on May 7.

Odisha has submitted a memorandum seeking an assistance of Rs 5,227.68 crore. An inter-ministerial central team visited the affected areas from June 20 to 22 for an on-the-spot assessment of damage. Upon receipt of their report, further financial assistance under NDRF will be considered, he further said.