Fani': Election code curbs in Odisha lifted

BHUBANESWAR: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has approved the lifting of model code of conduct in 11 districts in Odisha to facilitate speedy relief and rescue operation in view of cyclonic storm Fani, a poll official said on Wednesday.

This will expedite the precautionary measures afoot in Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Gajapati, Ganjam, Khordha, Cuttack and Jajpur, Rakesh Kumar said in the order issued on Tuesday.

The move came at the end of the day when Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik had made a request to the Election Commission (EC) in person.

Mr Patnaik was in Delhi to meet the poll panel on Tuesday asking for the lifting of the model code in several coastal districts of the state to facilitate disaster management activities ahead of cyclone Fani which is likely to hit Odisha coast on Friday.

The chief minister had also requested postponement of the Patkura Assembly elections. Polling in Patkura is scheduled on May 19.

Meeting chief election commissioner Sunil Arora, he had suggested postponing the polls to a later date so that communities could “work together in harmony and administration focus on saving precious lives and valuable
property”.

According to the latest forecast by the Joint Typhoon Warning Cent-re (JWTC), Fani, the most severe cyclonic sto-rm since the super cy-clone of 1999 that cla-imed close to 10,000 lives and devastated large pa-rts of Odisha, is expected to cross the holy town of Jagannath Puri May 3packing winds up to 175 km per hour before making a landfall near Puri.