NEET exam postponed in Fani-hit Odisha

New Delhi, May 4 (IANS) The Health Ministry on Saturday decided to postpone the NEET examination in Odisha, scheduled for May 5. The decision comes after Odisha was hit by cyclone Fani which caused massive destruction of property and partial shutdown of power and telecom services in the state.

The postponement decision was conveyed by the ministry during the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha. The decision was taken following the advice of the state government.

The meeting was held to review the rescue and relief measures in the cyclone affected areas of Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

During the NCMC meeting, Odisha reported that the advance precautionary measures taken by the government helped the state to keep the loss of human lives minimal.

The Odisha government said that the power supply and distribution in Bhubaneswar and Puri was completely down and that the telecom services were adversely affected and only the state run BSNL was able to connect people in some regions. Private operators like Airtel and Vodafone were reported to also be down.

The Cabinet Secretary directed the Ministry of Power and the Department of Telecommunications to immediately assist the Odisha government by providing electrical poles, gang workmen and diesel generator sets for quick restoration of power supply.

The NDRF has also deployed 44 teams in Odisha to assist the state administration in clearing roads by removing fallen trees and electric poles and in distribution of relief material. Teams of public health experts have also been sent to the state to prevent the outbreak of any epidemic.