Cyclone Dana that hit the eastern coast of Odisha unleashed torrential rains and strong winds that uprooted trees and electricity poles. This resulted in significant damage to infrastructure and crops in several districts.

As Dana weakened into a deep depression and moved westward, authorities launched extensive relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas hit by the storm, according to a PTI report. According to the report, Odisha Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari announced that damage assessment work would begin on Saturday and be completed within seven days, stating that all major road blocks caused by fallen trees had been cleared and communication restored.

Pujari said those who lost their homes will be “provided with pucca houses” and around 6 lakh people have been evacuated to safety.

According to Odisha TV, Bhitarkanika, Rajnagar, Bagapatia and Jambu in Kendrapara district, along with Dhamra, Chandbali and Basudevpur in Bhadrak district, were the worst hit by the cyclonic storm as it made landfall.

Power supply was interrupted as power poles were damaged in many places. According to PTI, Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, who is also in-charge of the power department, said that around 95 percent of the affected 33 KV feeder lines have already been restored, and that the others should be operational soon. He stressed that the restoration of the 11 KV network up to the Distribution Transformer level is progressing well.

Several fishing boats were damaged in Soro area of ​​Balasore district due to strong winds and high tides sustained in the sea. Many low lying areas were flooded. Around 2,000 people belonging to 500 families were left stranded due to waterlogging in Bagapatia area of ​​Kendrapara district.

On Friday, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced that the state had achieved its “zero casualty mission”, with no reports of deaths or injuries. He said the evacuation of around 6 million people had been successful and stressed the importance of proactive measures taken before the cyclone formed.

Acres of damaged crops

The cyclonic storm and rain damaged standing crops on 1.75 lakh acres of land and submerged another 2.80 lakh acres in Odisha, a senior official told PTI on Saturday, citing preliminary estimates.

According to the report, the state government has ordered a joint assessment by the agriculture and revenue departments of crop losses due to the cyclone.

“As per preliminary reports, the crop area likely to be affected by #CycloneDana is around 1,75,000 acres (69,995 ha). The submerged crop area estimated by naked eye is around 2 80,000 acres (1,12,310 ha),” Principal Secretary Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Arabinda Padhi said in an article on X.

“We have asked field officials from @krushibibhag to assess and enumerate crop losses (over 33 percent and above), jointly with colleagues from the Ministry of Finance as part of a team approach under the supervision of district collectors,” he said.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, in a review meeting on Friday evening, said the final estimate of losses in the agriculture sector would be known from the detailed report, based on which the government would decide on the compensation for farmers.