Naveen Patnaik sets up panel to monitor relief, rescue ops

Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday constituted a three-member ministerial committee to monitor relief, rescue and restoration activities in three districts affected by cyclonic storm Titli.

Revenue minister Ma-heswar Mohanty, urban development minister Niranjan Pujari and energy minister Sushant Singh have been appointed as the panel members.

The CM has asked the committee to visit Ganj-am, Gajapati and Rayag-ada districts to supervise the relief, rescue and restoration works.

Earlier in the day, Mr Patnaik had directed the three district collectors to closely monitor the situation and shift the people living in vulnerable areas to safer places. He directed to focus on early restoration of power supply and emergency services. Mr Patnaik also asked the collectors to provide cooked food to affected persons, besid-es submitting crop and house damage assessment reports within seven days.

Meanwhile, under the impact of severe cyclo-nic storm, continuous heavy downpour lashed several parts of south and coastal districts of Odisha in the past 24 hours.

The heavy rainfall triggered flood-like situation in the districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri and Balasore.

The situation remain-ed vulnerable, especially in Ganjam and Gaja-pati districts, where the remote areas have been cut off due to incessant rain triggered by the storm. Rescue personnel on Friday recovered the body of one of the six persons who were swept away in flash flood in Sorada area in Ganjam district.