Fani toll jumps to 34 in Odisha, Patnaik announces relief package
Bhubaneswar: The death toll due to Cyclone Fani mounted to 34 in Odisha on Sunday, two days after it caused widespread damage in the coastal region and left hundreds grappling with water shortage and power cuts, an official said.
Although the official figure is 34, many more are feared dead in the calamity as information from several areas, including the severely-damaged Khurda district, is still awaited.
The number of people affected by the cyclone has also jumped to around 1.08 crore in 14,835 villages spread across at least 11 districts, the official said, adding that over 13.41 lakh people had been evacuated in a span of 24 hours ahead of the disaster.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has already unveiled a relief package for those affected by the calamity.
In Puri and in those parts of Khurda that had been "extremely severely affected", the families will get 50 kg of rice, Rs 2,000 in cash and polythene sheets if they are covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Patnaik said.
For the rest of Khurda district, categorised as "severely affected", the NFSA families will get a month's quota of rice, Rs 1,000 and polythene sheets, Patnaik said.
Those living in the "moderately-affected" districts of Cuttack, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur will be eligible for a month's quota of rice and Rs 500 in cash.
The chief minister also announced an assistance of Rs 95,100 for fully-damaged houses, Rs 52,000 for partially-damaged houses and Rs 3,200 for houses that had suffered minor damage.
Patnaik, who visited the cyclone-ravaged Puri and distributed relief to the affected people, claimed that water supply had been restored in 70 per cent areas of the seaside pilgrim town and 40 per cent of the places in Bhubaneswar.
"I hope water supply will be fully restored in Bhubaneswar shortly and at least in 90 per cent areas of Puri town by Monday," he said. "The government has made arrangements to provide cooked food for free over the next 15 days. We will also take up tree plantation on a mission mode."
Patnaik, however, could not give the details on the status of the ongoing work for power restoration in the affected areas.
"We have to be very careful to avoid accidental electrocution," he said, when asked if power supply will be restored in Bhubaneswar, which continued without electricity for the third day on Sunday.
According to Chief Secretary A P Padhi, 21 of the 34 deaths were registered in Puri district, where the storm made a landfall on Friday, flattening fragile houses, uprooting scores of trees, electric poles and mobile towers.
Giving the break up, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi said four deaths each were reported from Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts, and two from Cuttack, while Kendrapara district accounted for three casualties.
The massive evacuation, touted as the largest ever ahead of a natural calamity in the country, played a major role in keeping human casualties to a minimum, he said, adding nearly 25,000 tourists had also been evacuated from Puri, Ganjam and Balasore districts as a precautionary measure.
The state government had mounted a massive restoration work across 14,835 villages and 46 urban areas ravaged by the storm, affecting 1.08 crore people, Sethi said.
The "extremely-severe" cyclone, one of the "rarest of rare", unleashed copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 240 kmph on Friday, blowing away thatched houses and swamping towns and villages, before weakening and entering West Bengal.
As the cyclone barrelled through entire coastal Odisha, 11 districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Mayurbhanj and Puri were severely affected.
Assuring that efforts were on to restore electricity supply in the affected areas, Energy Secretary Hemant Sharma said the power infrastructure was severely damaged in Puri, Khurda, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Balasore districts during the cyclone.
The SRC said clearing of roads and power restoration work was in full swing, while 321 mobile medical teams had been deployed with adequate number of doctors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Odisha to review the situation. Modi had spoken to Patnaik on Saturday and assured continuous support from the Centre for the rehabilitation work.
Meanwhile, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) resumed operations on the Howrah-Chennai route on Sunday.
"Barring the Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express and the Visakhapatnam Intercity Express, all trains originating from the state capital, including the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, will be running normally from Sunday," an ECoR official said.
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Delhi: Father, son held for killing 19-year-old woman in suspected honour killing
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested a man and his son for allegedly murdering his 19-year-old daughter in west Delhi's Hari Nagar area, an official said on Friday.
The case first came to light on April 1 after a PCR call was received around 2 pm, alleging that a woman had been killed by her family members and her body was being taken for last rites, he said.
The accused, identified as Mohammad Maneer (55), a vegetable vendor, and his son Meraj Ali (19), were arrested in connection with the case, the officer said.
The victim had been in a relationship with a man from her native place for the past two years, which was opposed by her father, Maneer and brother Meraj, he said.
"When the girl did not end the relationship despite objections, the family killed her," the officer said.
On April 1, the police said that when their team reached the spot, they found that the woman's body was being taken for burial.
Acting on the input, the burial process was stopped over suspicion of honour killing.
"Police intercepted the family members and took possession of the body," he said.
Police said that the man who had made the PCR told them that the woman was in love with his cousin.
During the inquiry, police also interacted with the PCR caller, who said his cousin, a friend of the deceased, had informed him about the situation and suspected foul play, prompting him to alert the police control room.
The body of the woman was subsequently shifted to the mortuary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for preservation and postmortem.
Police said that both the crime team and the forensic science laboratory (FSL) team were called to inspect the scene and collect evidence.
Police said that, as per the postmortem report, the cause of death was identified as smothering, indicating that the woman was suffocated.
A preliminary inquiry also revealed that the family had initiated preparations for the last rites soon after the woman's death, raising suspicion about the circumstances.
Initial investigation pointed to the family's opposition to the woman's relationship.
"The family members of the woman saw her with the man, and she was taken back home. We got to know that she was beaten up and even locked inside the house for some days," a source said.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, police added.
