Full reconstruction of infrastructure and logistical facilities damaged by Cyclone Fani that devastated the eastern Indian state of Odisha, killing 29 people, will take at least six to seven months, state government officials said on Monday, May 6.
The officials said that various state and central government agencies are still assessing the damage from Cyclone Fani that made landfall on the Odisha coast last week and detailed information of damaged infrastructure will only be finalized over the next few days.
However, the officials confirmed that that three major ports in Odisha - Paradip, Gopalpur and Dhamra - have suffered extensive damages and operations had been suspended and normal operations will be resumed only once a detailed report of the damages is received by the authorities.
The closure of the ports will impact the movement of coking coal and iron ore, key freights handled by these ports, the officials said.
The Talcher coalfields of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) under Coal India Limited (CIL) have shut down operations.
State-run transporter Indian Railways (IR) has suffered widespread damages to its infrastructure including railway tracks, electrification posts and service buildings. While IR is slowly resuming passenger train services, freight movement will continue to remain affected and attempts will first be made to resume operation of freight trains with diesel engines as the electrified tracks of the railways have been severely damaged by the cyclone which lashed the state with wind speeds of over 175 kmph.