Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said on Thursday that 1,600 of the 4,431 pregnant women shifted to health centers due to Cyclone Dana have given birth. A total of 5,84,888 people were evacuated from danger areas in the state, he said. This number is likely to increase further. “These people live in 6,008 hurricane shelters and we provide them with food, medicine, water and other necessities,” Magee said.
The chief minister said Balasore district saw the highest number of evacuations with 172,916 people evacuated to safe places, followed by Mayurbhanj where 100,000 people were evacuated. Apart from this, 75,000 people were evacuated from Bhadrak, 58,000 from Jajpur and 46,000 from Kendrapara. He clarified that the state government initially set a target of evacuating one million people and adjusted the target based on the change in the trajectory of Cyclone Dana.
“We have successfully evacuated all people from high-risk areas,” the chief minister said.
What did the government say?
Majhi informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah about the state’s preparations and said the Center was satisfied with the steps taken by the Odisha government. Earlier in the day, a woman evacuated from Cuttack district gave birth to a child at Nyali Hospital. The information and public relations (I&PR) department of the state government announced the news and said the mother was among the 4,431 pregnant women who were sent to cyclone shelters.
Also Read: How Cyclone Dana wreaked havoc in Odisha, Bengal, see pictures
The department said both mother and newborn are healthy. In preparation for Cyclone Dana, officials ensured that the child was delivered safely at Nyali Hospital. Sai Swapna Behera, a woman who was rescued safely, and her newborn baby are both healthy. Disaster relief teams are on site to provide safety and medical care to everyone.
