As Fani rears head, villagers in Odisha's Gajapati fear Titli rerun

BERHAMPUR: The devastation caused by cyclone Titli , which hit Gajapati district last year, still haunts the people living along the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border. With another cyclonic storm, Fani, gathering force in the Bay of Bengal, the locals are fearing a rerun of the chaos.

Titli had made landfall in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh on October 11, 2018.

It had wreaked havoc in Gajapati district, killing around 40 people, besides damaging infrastructure and rendering thousands homeless.

“We are yet to recover from the onslaught of Titli. We pray to God to save us,” said the residents of Gangabada panchayat, where 22 people died in a massive landslide in the wake of Titli.

“Another cyclonic storm will devastate us,” said former sarpanch of the panchayat, Haribandhu Karjee. “We can only pray to god that no repeat of Titli occurs,” said Narendra Pradhan of Garabandh.

Collector Anupam Saha said there was no need to panic. “The movement of the expected cyclonic storm is yet to completely figured out,” he said, adding that the district administration was readying itself for any eventuality.

“We conducted a district-level meeting on Sunday and a block-level meeting on Monday,” he said.

“We have identified some vulnerable areas. In each such area, a district-level officer will be deployed to coordinate rescue work if needed,” Saha said. “If necessary, the people of these areas will be evacuated and given shelter in schools,” said the collector.

The Ganjam district administration held a meeting with district-level officials to take precautionary measures for the impending cyclone.

District collector Vijay Amruta Kulange has asked health officials to admit pregnant women to hospitals before the rains and wind. “We have alerted all officials and are prepared to meet any eventuality,” said collector.