Times Of India 19th Dec 2010
PHULBANI (Orissa): Intense cold wave is sweeping across Orissa's Kandhmal district for the last one week paralysing normal life as the minimum temperature plummeted to 4.2 degree celsius today.
Normal life was severely affected in Daringbadi, Kotagarh, Tumudibandha, Balliguda, Raikia, G. Udayagiri, Phulbani and Tikabali due to cold.
The lowest temperature of the season 4.2 was recorded at Daringbadi, while in the district headquarter town of Phulbani the mercury dropped to 5.8 degree celsius, local Meteorological Observatory sources said.
The homeless people have become the worst victim of the intense cold. Vegetable cultivation and Rabi crops will be damaged if such a condition persists, some farmers at Tikabali have opined.
Orissa cold wave: Phulbani coldest at 7.6 degrees
Bhubaneswar, Dec 16 2010 A cold wave has gripped several parts of Orissa with Phulbani town, G Udayagiri, Raikia, Baliguda, Daringibadi in Kandhamal district being the coldest at a minimum temperature 7.6 degrees Celsius, an official said.
Other places that recorded minimum temperatures of less than 10 degrees Celsius include Sundergarh at 8.9 degrees, and Sambalpur and Koraput both at 9.2 degrees Celsius, G.Dutta, an official of the Bhubaneswar meteorological centre, told IANS.
Bhubaneswar and nearby Cuttack city remained relatively warmer with minimum temperatures of 13 and 13.4 degrees Celsius respectively, he said.
Phulbani town is some 200 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.
The official added that the cold wave conditions would continue at some places for the next two days.
Other places that recorded minimum temperatures of less than 10 degrees Celsius include Sundergarh at 8.9 degrees, and Sambalpur and Koraput both at 9.2 degrees Celsius, G.Dutta, an official of the Bhubaneswar meteorological centre, told IANS.
Bhubaneswar and nearby Cuttack city remained relatively warmer with minimum temperatures of 13 and 13.4 degrees Celsius respectively, he said.
Phulbani town is some 200 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.
The official added that the cold wave conditions would continue at some places for the next two days.
Maoist says Sorry!
Bhubaneswar: Maoist guerrillas issued a public apology on Saturday for having blown up an ambulance and killing five 'innocent' people in Orissa's Kandhamal district last month.
The rebels issued a statement which was received by some mediapersons in Phulbani town, the district headquarters of Kandhamal.
Communist Party of India-Maoist Orissa unit secretary Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil said in the statement that the rebels were sorry that some innocent people had been killed.
One of the journalists who received the statement quoted Sunil as having said that the rebels triggered the blast on a tip-off that the vehicle was carrying some policemen.
'I have not seen it. However, I was informed by some journalists that they received a statement in which the rebel leader has apologised,' Kandhamal district superintendent S. Praveen Kumar said.
Five people, including two women and a child, were killed on Nov 27 night when Maoists blew up the ambulance in which they were travelling in a hilly and forested area of Kandhamal district.
The landmine blast took place near Brahmanigaon, some 350 km from Bhubaneswar, when the victims were on their way home in a nearby area after admitting a pregnant woman in a government hospital in neighbouring Ganjam district.
Kumar said police have intensified combing operations in the district to nab the rebels involved in the blast.
The rebels issued a statement which was received by some mediapersons in Phulbani town, the district headquarters of Kandhamal.
Communist Party of India-Maoist Orissa unit secretary Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil said in the statement that the rebels were sorry that some innocent people had been killed.
One of the journalists who received the statement quoted Sunil as having said that the rebels triggered the blast on a tip-off that the vehicle was carrying some policemen.
'I have not seen it. However, I was informed by some journalists that they received a statement in which the rebel leader has apologised,' Kandhamal district superintendent S. Praveen Kumar said.
Five people, including two women and a child, were killed on Nov 27 night when Maoists blew up the ambulance in which they were travelling in a hilly and forested area of Kandhamal district.
The landmine blast took place near Brahmanigaon, some 350 km from Bhubaneswar, when the victims were on their way home in a nearby area after admitting a pregnant woman in a government hospital in neighbouring Ganjam district.
Kumar said police have intensified combing operations in the district to nab the rebels involved in the blast.
Maoists target ambulance
Suspected Maoists blew up an ambulance in Kandhamal district of Orissa late on Saturday, killing all its five occupants, including a three-year-old girl.
The ambulance was coming back from a government hospital in Berhampur after dropping a pregnant woman when the Maoists triggered a landmine blast on a hilly road near Brahmanigaon around 2 a.m., Kandhamal SP Praveen Kumar said.
Brahmanigaon is a Maoist-infested area where Azad, the man who killed Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August 2008, calls the shots.
The blast killed all five occupants on the spot and created a deep crater on the ground.
All the victims are Dalits and tribal Christians. They are Subhashree Digal (3), her mother Erina Digal, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) worker Sushanti Pradhan, Bunu Digal and driver Siman Mallick.
The SP said the landmine blast could have been a deliberate attack. “The ambulance must have had a blue beacon on its top. So how come the rebels did not see it?” he asked.
But police sources said the ambulance could have been targeted by mistake as the Maoists were actually looking for a deputy superintendent of police who had come to Brahmanigaon two days ago to investigate the killing of a contractor. The Maoists are yet to come out with any statement.
On Thursday, the Maoists had shot contractor Manoj Sahu at the crowded Brahmanigaon market. A bandh was called in Brahmanigaon on Saturday to protest the contractor’s killing.
The DSP was scheduled to travel back on that road on Saturday night, but deferred his visit.
Local officials said they were not sure if the ambulance had a blue beacon on top. Vehicles in the area normally do not sport any beacons after sunset as it could attract Maoists.
Local tribal leader Lambodar Kanhar said the Maoists had proved that they were just murderers. “I have been telling my fellow tribals time and again to steer clear of the Maoists and not give them shelter. If we help them, then the police would come after us branding us as informers,” Kanhar said.
The ambulance was coming back from a government hospital in Berhampur after dropping a pregnant woman when the Maoists triggered a landmine blast on a hilly road near Brahmanigaon around 2 a.m., Kandhamal SP Praveen Kumar said.
Brahmanigaon is a Maoist-infested area where Azad, the man who killed Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August 2008, calls the shots.
The blast killed all five occupants on the spot and created a deep crater on the ground.
All the victims are Dalits and tribal Christians. They are Subhashree Digal (3), her mother Erina Digal, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) worker Sushanti Pradhan, Bunu Digal and driver Siman Mallick.
The SP said the landmine blast could have been a deliberate attack. “The ambulance must have had a blue beacon on its top. So how come the rebels did not see it?” he asked.
But police sources said the ambulance could have been targeted by mistake as the Maoists were actually looking for a deputy superintendent of police who had come to Brahmanigaon two days ago to investigate the killing of a contractor. The Maoists are yet to come out with any statement.
On Thursday, the Maoists had shot contractor Manoj Sahu at the crowded Brahmanigaon market. A bandh was called in Brahmanigaon on Saturday to protest the contractor’s killing.
The DSP was scheduled to travel back on that road on Saturday night, but deferred his visit.
Local officials said they were not sure if the ambulance had a blue beacon on top. Vehicles in the area normally do not sport any beacons after sunset as it could attract Maoists.
Local tribal leader Lambodar Kanhar said the Maoists had proved that they were just murderers. “I have been telling my fellow tribals time and again to steer clear of the Maoists and not give them shelter. If we help them, then the police would come after us branding us as informers,” Kanhar said.
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