Vast swathes of agricultural land in Baleswar district was lying submerged in saline water although the volume of water had receded a day after cyclone Yaas unleashed its fury here on Wednesday.
Tide of 12 to 14 feet rose during movement of cyclone. Consequently, cornfields apart, most of the prawn dykes which are generally close to sea coast were also severely affected due to saline water ingression. The dykes are left overfilled. The agriculture fields lay submerged in almost all seaside blocks of district including Sadar, Soro, Bahanaga, Baliapal and Bhograi, etc. The district administration while was yet to get ground reports fully pertaining to loss and damage, the electricity was restored in the town patches by Thursday.
The rural areas were still reeling under darkness. Lack of electricity affected drinking water supply in the rural parts also.Additional District Magistrate Nilu Mohapatra said most of the evacuees have left for home from the cyclone shelters. Those still in the centres were provided with foods including cooked foods during lunch and dinner.
“Almost all major roads which were obstructed by uprooted trees are being cleared. Electricity is restored in towns and in rural pockets the restoration work is underway at a war footing. Free kitchen provision has been made available for those still lodged in the safe centres, while most of the evacuees have returned to their homes,” said Mohapatra, adding that zero causality was achieved in the district.
In the meantime, the defence establishments which are in close vicinity of Chandipur sea encountered the worst tidal surge as well as cyclonic storm. “Over 250 trees including in the mainland and island were uprooted due to the storm.
One of sea facing guest houses bore damages after high tide water gushed into its premises. “However, all our instruments are safe in Chandipur and further an assessment of safety of equipment will be carried out in Nilgiri hill and Dhamra in a day or two,” said Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur Additional Dr Niladri Roy.