Odisha cyclone

Odisha cyclone:

Bhubaneswar: 

The death toll in Cyclone Titli-hit Odisha rose to 24 Sunday after two more bodies were pulled out of the rubble brought by a landslide in Gajapati district, even as the flood situation in the state improved marginally, officials said.

Heavy rains pounded Odisha over the last three days following the cyclone's landfall on Gopalpur in the southwestern part of the state.

The flood situation in Odisha has improved marginally, making it easier for the administration to expedite relief and restoration operations, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) BP Sethi said.

Mr Sethi, however, said the situation has "marginally improved in Ganjam and Gajapati districts, with water receding from low-lying areas and roads being cleared of tree trunks and electric poles.

Fifteen people were killed in the Friday landslide in Gajapati's Barghar area, around 50 km from the district headquarters town of Paralakhemundi, Sub-Divisional Police Officer TP Patra said.He said while 13 bodies were found Saturday night, two more bodies were pulled out of the rubble Sunday morning.

Electricity supply has been restored in many places in Ganjam, one of the worst-affected districts in the state.

"In Gajapati, too, the Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) personnel have been pressed into service to clear roads by removing the uprooted trees," Sethi told reporters after a review meeting with Chief Secretary A P Patra

Besides those killed in the landslide, flood and rain related incidents claimed three lives in Gajapati, and four and two in Ganjam and Khandamal districts respectively, the officials said.