Bhubaneswar: With Gopalpur and its periphery area of Odisha severely hit by cyclone Phailin, Tata Relief Committee is focusing on its relief and rehabilitation operations in Ganjam district, in addition to relief in other parts of the state.
Under the banner of Tata Relief Committee (TRC), both Tata Steel and Tata Power have initiated steps for restoration of power and water supply in Ganjam district.
Five large diesel generators have been provided to the district administration of Ganjam, which have facilitated restoration of power, a Tata release said here today.
In addition, Tata Power is providing 5,000 solar lanterns to the affected 480 panchayats of Ganjam district. These lanterns are sent to each Panchayat through the district authorities. These lanterns, with four hours of exposure to sunlight, can work for 4 to 6 hours.
As the authorities and SOUTHCO are working on war footing for reconstruction of the power infrastructure in Ganjam district, Tata Steel has deployed about 60 technical hands for facilitating the same. In addition, a five-member engineering team is also working with SOUTHCO for expediting the restoration of power infrastructure, it said.
In order to facilitate the reach of basic health services, a five-member team of doctors of the company is providing basic health check-up near Gopalpur.
To provide immediate relief to the victims of Phailin and subsequent floods, around 15,000 families have been provided with food and other items in the ravaged areas of Ganjam, Kendrapara, Keonjhar and Jajpur districts.
With more than half-a-century of experience of providing relief in Odisha since 1961, TRC, a day before the cyclone struck on October 12, 2013 had put up a special relief camp in the hostel of JN Tata Technical Institute at Gopalpur to provide shelter to residents of peripheral villages. Cooked and dry food was served at the camp. Similar initiatives were also been taken in Joda, Sukinda and Harichandanpur.
TRC`s interventions in recent times includes construction of 435 houses and 35 school-cum-cyclone centers for victims of the super cyclone in 1999 and relief distribution to around 5.5 lakh families during the floods between 2000 to 2011, it added.
